Summary
Transection of Purkinje cell axons in adult male rats made 1.5 mm or further from the cell body does not lead to the death of the neuron and results in compensatory structural alterations of the surviving axonal portions of the nerve cell. Near to, and at the emergence of recurrent collaterals of Purkinje cell axons, huge varicosities filled with filaments, granular material, lysosomes and mitochondria develop. Terminals of recurrent axon collaterals also exhibit different degrees of structural changes. Most striking of the morphological alterations is the regular presence of nematosomes in the hypertrophic axonal branches, especially in synaptic terminals. Since nematosomes were shown to contain RNA in other types of neurons, their presence in recurrent collaterals may indicate an enhanced synthetic activity in Purkinje axonal processes and endings after axotomy.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anzil AP, Herrlinger H, Blinzinger K (1973) Nucleolus-like inclusions in neuronal perikarya and processes: phase and electron microscope observations on the hypothalamus of the mouse. Z Zellforsch 146:329–337
Blinzinger K, Kreutzberg G (1968) Displacement of synaptic terminals from regenerating motoneurons by microglial cells. Z Zellforsch Mikrosk Anat 85:145–157
Brand S, Mugnaini E (1976) Fulminant Purkinje cell death following axotomy and its use for analysis of the dendritic arborization. Exp Brain Res 26:105–119
Cajal Ramón y (1928) Degeneration and regeneration of the nervous system. Translated by RM May, Vol II, Oxford University Press, London
Daitz HM, Powell TPS (1954) Studies of the connexions of the fornix system. J Neurol Neurosurg. Psychiat 17:75–82
Desclin JC, Colin F (1980) The olivocerebellar system II. Some ultrastructural correlates of inferior olive destruction. Brain Res 187:29–46
Fry FJ, Cowan WM (1972) A study of retrograde cell degeneration in the lateral mammillary nucleus of the cat with special reference to the role of axonal branching in the preservation of the cell. J Comp Neurol 144:1–24
Gertner CH, Stoeckel M-E, Porte A, Dellman H-D, Madarász B (1974) Nematosomes or nucleolus-like bodies in hypothalamic neurons, the subfornical organ and adenohypophyseal cells of the rat. Cell Tissue Res 155:211–219
Grafstein B, McQuarrie JG (1978) Role of the nerve cell body in axonal regenerations. In: Cotman CW (ed) Neuronal Plasticity. Raven Press, New York, pp 155–195
Hamberger A, Hansson H, Sjöstrand J (1970) Surface structure of isolated neurons. Detachment of nerve terminals during axon regeneration. J Cell Biol 47:319–331
Hámori J, Lakos I, Mezey É (1980) Synaptogenetic processes in deafferented cerebellar cortex. (In preparation)
Le Beux YJ (1972) An ultrastructural study of a cytoplasmic filamentous body, termed nematosome, in the neurons of the rat and cat substantia nigra: The association of nematosomes with the other cytoplasmic organelles in the neuron. Z Zellforsch 133:189–325
Lieberman AR (1974) Some factors affecting retrograde neuronal responses to axonal lesions. In: Bellairs R, Gray EC (eds) Essays on the Nervous System. A Festschrift for Professor JZ Young. Clarendon Press, Oxford
Palay SL, Chan-Palay V (1974) Cerebellar cortex. Cytology and Organization. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Pasik P, Pasik T, Hámori J, Szentágothai J (1973) Golgi type II interneurons in the neuronal circuit of the monkey lateral geniculate nucleus. Exp Brain Res 17:18–34
Ralston HJ, Chow KL (1973) Synaptic reorganization in the degenerating lateral geniculate nucleus of the rabbit. J Comp Neurol 147:321–350
Santolaya RC (1973) Nucleolus-like bodies in the neuronal cytoplasm of the mouse arcuate nucleus. Z Zellforsch 146:319–328
Somogyi P, Hámori J (1976) A quantitative electron microscopic study of the Purkinje cell axon initial segment. Neuroscience 1:361–365
Sotelo C (1978) Purkinje cell ontogeny: Formation and maintenance of spines. Progr Brain Res 48:149–170
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hámori, J., Lakos, I. Ultrastructural alterations in the initial segments and in the recurrent collateral terminals of Purkinje cells following axotomy. Cell Tissue Res. 212, 415–427 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00236507
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00236507