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Ultrastructural differences between the myelin sheaths of peripheral nerve fibres and CNS white matter

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Summary

Electron microscopic studies of peripheral nerves and spinal cord white matter of adult mice, as prepared by the freeze-etching method, show distinct differences in the periodicity of the myelin lamellae as well as of the ultrastructural lamellar pattern. A periodicity of 185 Å is to be determined for peripheral myelin whereas it is 160 Å in the myelin of central origin.

In contrast to the appearance in the peripheral myelin the lamellar structure in the central myelin sheath is less pronounced and tends towards a fundamental repeating unit of 80 Å.

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This work was supported by the Swiss National Foundation (Nr. 4065).

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Bischoff, A., Moor, H. Ultrastructural differences between the myelin sheaths of peripheral nerve fibres and CNS white matter. Zeitschrift für Zellforschung 81, 303–310 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00342757

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00342757

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