The active transport of organelles and other cargos along the axon is required to maintain neuronal health and function, but we are just beginning to understand the complex regulatory mechanisms involved. The molecular motors, cytoplasmic dynein and kinesins, transport cargos along microtubules; this transport is tightly regulated by adaptors and effectors. Here we review our current understanding of motor regulation in axonal transport. We discuss the mechanisms by which regulatory proteins induce or repress the activity of dynein or kinesin motors, and explore how this regulation plays out during organelle trafficking in the axon, where motor activity is both cargo specific and dependent on subaxonal location. We survey several well-characterized examples of membranous organelles subject to axonal transport — including autophagosomes, endolysosomes, signalling endosomes, mitochondria and synaptic vesicle precursors — and highlight the specific mechanisms that regulate motor activity to provide localized trafficking within the neuron. Defects in axonal transport have been implicated in conditions ranging from developmental defects in the brain to neurodegenerative disease. Better understanding of the underlying mechanisms will be essential to develop more-effective treatment options.

细胞器和其他货物沿轴突的主动运输是维持神经元健康和功能所必需的，但我们才刚刚开始了解所涉及的复杂调节机制。分子马达、细胞质动力蛋白和驱动蛋白沿着微管运输货物；这种运输受到适配器和效应器的严格控制。在这里，我们回顾了我们目前对轴突运输中运动调节的理解。我们讨论了调节蛋白诱导或抑制动力蛋白或驱动蛋白运动的机制，并探讨了这种调节在轴突细胞器运输过程中的作用，其中运动活动既是货物特异性的又取决于亚轴突位置。我们调查了几个受轴突运输影响的膜状细胞器的典型例子——包括自噬体，内溶酶体、信号内体、线粒体和突触小泡前体——并强调调节运动活动以提供神经元内局部运输的特定机制。轴突运输的缺陷与从大脑发育缺陷到神经退行性疾病的各种疾病有关。更好地了解潜在机制对于开发更有效的治疗方案至关重要。