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neurofilament, light polypeptide 68kDa
Symbol(s):	NEFL
Locus:	8 p21
EC number	[1]
EntrezGene	4747
OMIM	162280
RefSeq	NM_006158
UniProt	P07196

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neurofilament, heavy polypeptide 200kDa
Symbol(s):	NEFH
Locus:	22 q12.1 -13.1
EC number	[2]
EntrezGene	4744
OMIM	162230
RefSeq	NM_021076
UniProt	P12036

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neurofilament 3 (150kDa medium)
Symbol(s):	NEF3
Locus:	8 p21
EC number	[3]
EntrezGene	4741
OMIM	162250
RefSeq	NM_005382
UniProt	P07197

Neurofilaments are the type IV family of intermediate filaments that is found in high concentrations along the axons of vertebrate neurons.

The three types of neurofilament proteins coassemble in vivo, forming a heteropolymer that contain NF-L plus one of the others. The NF-H and NF-M proteins have lengthy C-terminal tail domains that bind to neighboring filaments, generating aligned arrays with a uniform interfilament spacing.

During axonal growth, new neurofilament subunits are incorporated all along the axon in a dynamic process that involves the addition of subunits along the filament length, as well as the addition of subunits at the filament ends.

After an axon has grown and connected with its target cell, the diameter of the axon may increase as much as fivefold.

The level of neurofilament gene expression seems to directly control axonal diameter, which in turn controls how fast electrical signals travel down the axon.[4]

[edit] See also

• Intermediate filament

[edit] External links

• OMIM 162280 - overview of neurofilaments

v·d·e Histology: nervous tissue
Neurons (gray matter)	soma, axon (axon hillock, axoplasm, axolemma, neurofibril/neurofilament), dendrite (Nissl body, dendritic spine, apical dendrite, basal dendrite) types (bipolar, pseudounipolar, multipolar, pyramidal, Purkinje, granule)
Afferent nerve/Sensory nerve/Sensory neuron	GSA, GVA, SSA, SVA, fibers (Ia, Ib or Golgi, II or Aβ, III or Aδ or fast pain, IV or C or slow pain)
Efferent nerve/Motor nerve/Motor neuron	GSE, GVE, SVE, Upper motor neuron, Lower motor neuron (α motorneuron, γ motorneuron)
Synapses	neuropil, synaptic vesicle, neuromuscular junction, electrical synapse - Interneuron (Renshaw)
Sensory receptors	Free nerve ending, Meissner's corpuscle, Merkel nerve ending, Muscle spindle, Pacinian corpuscle, Ruffini ending, Olfactory receptor neuron, Photoreceptor cell, Hair cell, Taste bud
Glial cells	astrocyte, oligodendrocyte, ependymal cells, microglia, radial glia
Myelination (white matter)	Schwann cell, oligodendrocyte, nodes of Ranvier, internode, Schmidt-Lanterman incisures, neurolemma
Related connective tissues	epineurium, perineurium, endoneurium, nerve fascicle, meninges

This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Neurofilament. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.