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Giant nerve fibers in the ciliary muscle and iris sphincter of Macaca mulatta

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Summary

Unusually large nerve processes, containing numerous mitochondria, glycogen particles, and synaptic vesicles are described in both the ciliary muscle and the iris sphincter muscle of the rhesus monkey. The striking similarity of these axonal profiles to the dendritic enlargements observed by Sotelo and Palay (1968) is noted and the possibility that they represent growing ends of peripheral nerve fibers is suggested.

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Supported by NIH Grant EY 01349-01 and by a Fight for Sight Grant, Fight for Sight Inc., New York, N.Y. The animals used in this research were obtained from the New England Regional Primate Research Center, Southborough, Massachusetts. We thank Dr. Alan Peters for his helpful advice during the preparation of the manuscript

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Townes-Anderson, E., Raviola, G. Giant nerve fibers in the ciliary muscle and iris sphincter of Macaca mulatta . Cell Tissue Res. 169, 33–40 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00219305

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00219305

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