Dendrites of mammalian neurons contain specialized P-body-like structures that respond to neuronal activation.

Intracellular mRNA transport and local translation play a key role in neuronal physiology. Translationally repressed mRNAs are transported as a part of ribonucleoprotein (RNP) particles to distant dendritic sites, but the properties of different RNP particles and mechanisms of their repression and transport remain largely unknown. Here, we describe a new class of RNP-particles, the dendritic P-body-like structures (dlPbodies), which are present in the soma and dendrites of mammalian neurons and have both similarities and differences to P-bodies of non-neuronal cells.