ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses answer for questions with regard to the axoplasmic transport mechanism: how is the transport in axons organized? Which properties are acceptable on the basis of experimental data? What are the possible modes of force generation? Viscosity is therefore difficult to assess in discrete subcellular regions, which makes the exact theoretical analysis of the axoplasmic transport phenomenon rather difficult. Organelles in transit are affected only by the macroviscosity of axoplasm. Axoplasmic Transport is an active process driven by ATP which is derived from oxidative phosphorylation. Almost all hypothetical transport mechanisms suggest that the transported material is moved through a stationary cytoplasm. Other models for the transport mechanism propose that part of the axoplasm is in a streaming state and thus conveys the organelles as well as the other material which is to be transported. Autoradiographic studies attempting to directly demonstrate the axonal location of rapidly transported material have so far yielded a variety of results.
