Protein Complex Heterogeneity in The Nerve System

A neuron has a unique axonal mRNA translocation and axonal translation. Thus, the neuron may have a different gene and protein expression regulation mechanism. However, we found that neuronal mRNA abundance is inverse-related to the CDS length of mRNA, which is consistent with other cell types. Meanwhile, the RNA and protein abundance have a low correlation, as revealed using paired mRNA-seq and proteomic data. Furthermore, our findings revealed the presence of extensive protein heterogeneity within main protein complexes. We utilized multiple single-cell mass spectrometry datasets to assess the protein heterogeneity within nuclear pore complexes and ribosomes. This study revealed a notable discrepancy between the proportion of protein complex subunits and their mature Stoichiometry under STED microscopy and CRYO-EM, suggesting heterogeneity of the protein complex.