Question

The enzyme choline acetyltransferase catalyzes the reaction between acetyl-CoA and choline resulting in the formation of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. This enzyme is produced within the cell body of neurons, but the synthesis of acetylcholine occurs within the axon terminals. What best describes the axonal transport mechanism associated with this process?

Answer 1

Answer: Anterograde direction.

Explanation:

Choline acetyltransferase is an enzyme made in the body of a neuron and that needs to be transferred to the axon terminal to perform its function. Its function is to bind acetyl-CoA to choline to form the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.

The movement toward the cell body is called retrograde transport and the movement toward the synapse is called anterograde transport. So, since it is produced in the body of the cell and it has to go to the axon terminals, the choline acetyltransferase is transported in the anterograde direction.  

This type of transport is responsible for the movement of organelles such as mitochondria, lipids, synaptic vesicles, proteins from a neuron cell body through the cytoplasm of its axon called the axoplasm. Because axons can sometimes be meters long, neurons cannot rely on diffusion to carry products to the end of their axons. Dynein is a motor protein involved in this retrograde axonal transport. Its light chains bind cargo, and its globular head regions bind the microtubule, "moving forward" along it.