J Reconstr Microsurg 2000; Volume 16(Number 8): 0637-0642
DOI: 10.1055/s-2000-9382
Copyright © 2000 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA. Tel. +1(212)584-4662.

Ultrastructural Characteristics and Synaptophysin Immunohistochemistry of Regenerating Nerve Growth Cones Following Traumatic Injury to Rat Peripheral Nerve

Seiichiro Okajima, Mikihiro Shirasu, Yasusuke Hirasawa, Chizuka Ide
  • Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, and Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan
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Publikationsverlauf

Publikationsdatum:
31. Dezember 2000 (online)

ABSTRACT

-Growth cones of regenerating nerves, following crush injury to the rat peripheral nerve system, were studied by electron microscopy and synaptophysin. Localization in the growth cones was revealed by immunohistochemistry at the ultrastructural level. Many regenerating growth cones grew along the Schwann-cell basal laminae tubes at the crushed site. These cones revealed an abundance of organelles, such as heterogenous vesicles and many mitochondria, and a scarcity of cytoskeletons, including microtubules and neurofilaments in the cytoplasm. The periphery of the growth cones (corresponding to the lamellipodia or filopodia of cultured neurons) contained rich electron-dense filamentous materials. Cellular protrusions, such as filopodia, were rarely seen. These growth cones exhibited intense immunoreactivity for synaptophysin by light microscopy. Immunoelectron microscopy demonstrated that immunoreactivity was distributed diffusely in the cytoplasm.