EACH COMPONENT OF NEUROFILAMENT ASSEMBLES ITSELF TO MAKE COMPONENT-SPECIFIC FILAMENT

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Abstract
Assembly of each component of the neurofilaments from bovine brain was examined and it was revealed that not only P 68 component but also P 200 and P 160 component make component-specific filaments. It was observed with EM that P 200 made side arm like short filaments and P 160 made semilong filaments with rough surface. P 68 made very long filaments with smooth surface as already reported. The fine structures of each filament seem to be compatible with the structures predicted from the microscopic observation of the native neurofilaments and from component-specific antibody decoration study. Namely, it seems that P 200 makes side arms of the neurofilament, and rough surface of the neurofilament is due to P 160 filaments twisting around core filaments of P 68. These results were confirmed by centrifugal and electrophoretic methods.