THE SUBMICROSCOPIC ORGANIZATION OF AXON MATERIAL ISOLATED FROM MYELIN NERVE FIBERS

THE SUBMICROSCOPIC ORGANIZATION OF AXON MATERIAL ISOLATED FROM MYELIN NERVE FIBERS

A technique has been developed for the extrusion of axon material from myelinated nerve fibers. This material is then compressed and prepared for observation with the electron microscope. All the stages of preparation and purification of the axon material can be checked microscopically and in the p...

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Main Authors: De Robertis, E., Franchi, C. M.
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: The Rockefeller University Press 1953
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2136241/
id pubmed-2136241
recordtype oai_dc
spelling pubmed-21362412008-04-17 THE SUBMICROSCOPIC ORGANIZATION OF AXON MATERIAL ISOLATED FROM MYELIN NERVE FIBERS De Robertis, E. Franchi, C. M. Article A technique has been developed for the extrusion of axon material from myelinated nerve fibers. This material is then compressed and prepared for observation with the electron microscope. All the stages of preparation and purification of the axon material can be checked microscopically and in the present paper they are illustrated with phase contrast photomicrographs. Observation with the electron microscope of the compressed axons showed the presence of the following components: granules, fibrils, and a membranous material. Only the larger granules could be seen with the ordinary microscope. A considerable number of dense granules were observed. Of these the largest resemble typical mitochondria of 250 mµ by 900 mµ. In addition rows or small clusters of dense granules ranging in diameter from 250 to 90 mµ were present. In several specimens fragments of a membrane 120 to 140 A thick and intimately connected with the axon were found. The entire axon appeared to be constituted of a large bundle of parallel tightly packed fibrils among which the granules are interspersed. The fibrils are of indefinite length and generally smooth. They are rather labile structures, less resistant in the rat than in the toad nerve. They varied between 100 and 400 A in diameter and in some cases disintegrated into very fine filaments (less than 100 A thick). The significance is discussed of the submicroscopic structures revealed by electron microscopy of the material prepared in the way described. The Rockefeller University Press 1953-09-01 /pmc/articles/PMC2136241/ /pubmed/13084845 Text en Copyright © Copyright, 1953, by The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research New York This article is distributed under the terms of an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike–No Mirror Sites license for the first six months after the publication date (see http://www.rupress.org/terms). After six months it is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 4.0 Unported license, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).
repository_type Open Access Journal
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building NCBI PubMed
collection Online Access
language English
format Online
author De Robertis, E.
Franchi, C. M.
spellingShingle De Robertis, E.
Franchi, C. M.
THE SUBMICROSCOPIC ORGANIZATION OF AXON MATERIAL ISOLATED FROM MYELIN NERVE FIBERS
author_facet De Robertis, E.
Franchi, C. M.
author_sort De Robertis, E.
title THE SUBMICROSCOPIC ORGANIZATION OF AXON MATERIAL ISOLATED FROM MYELIN NERVE FIBERS
title_short THE SUBMICROSCOPIC ORGANIZATION OF AXON MATERIAL ISOLATED FROM MYELIN NERVE FIBERS
title_full THE SUBMICROSCOPIC ORGANIZATION OF AXON MATERIAL ISOLATED FROM MYELIN NERVE FIBERS
title_fullStr THE SUBMICROSCOPIC ORGANIZATION OF AXON MATERIAL ISOLATED FROM MYELIN NERVE FIBERS
title_full_unstemmed THE SUBMICROSCOPIC ORGANIZATION OF AXON MATERIAL ISOLATED FROM MYELIN NERVE FIBERS
title_sort submicroscopic organization of axon material isolated from myelin nerve fibers
description A technique has been developed for the extrusion of axon material from myelinated nerve fibers. This material is then compressed and prepared for observation with the electron microscope. All the stages of preparation and purification of the axon material can be checked microscopically and in the present paper they are illustrated with phase contrast photomicrographs. Observation with the electron microscope of the compressed axons showed the presence of the following components: granules, fibrils, and a membranous material. Only the larger granules could be seen with the ordinary microscope. A considerable number of dense granules were observed. Of these the largest resemble typical mitochondria of 250 mµ by 900 mµ. In addition rows or small clusters of dense granules ranging in diameter from 250 to 90 mµ were present. In several specimens fragments of a membrane 120 to 140 A thick and intimately connected with the axon were found. The entire axon appeared to be constituted of a large bundle of parallel tightly packed fibrils among which the granules are interspersed. The fibrils are of indefinite length and generally smooth. They are rather labile structures, less resistant in the rat than in the toad nerve. They varied between 100 and 400 A in diameter and in some cases disintegrated into very fine filaments (less than 100 A thick). The significance is discussed of the submicroscopic structures revealed by electron microscopy of the material prepared in the way described.
publisher The Rockefeller University Press
publishDate 1953
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2136241/
_version_ 1611419935755468800

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