Direct observation of importin α family member KPNA1 in axonal transport with or without a schizophrenia-related mutation.

Summary: Inside our brain cells, a protein called KPNA1 usually acts like a doorman, helping move important materials into the cell's control center (the nucleus). However, scientists have discovered that KPNA1 also hangs out in the long communication wires of nerve cells, known as axons. Surprisingly, it often travels alone here, without its usual partner, and moves back and forth by hitching rides on cellular "waste disposal" trucks called endosomes. Because genetic errors in KPNA1 are linked to schizophrenia, understanding these unique movement patterns could shed new light on how this psychiatric disorder disrupts brain cell communication.