Motor axon excitability during Wallerian degeneration

Motor axon excitability during Wallerian degeneration.

Axonal loss and degeneration are major factors in determining long-term outcome in patients with peripheral nerve disorders or injury. Following loss of axonal continuity, the isolated nerve stump distal to the lesion undergoes Wallerian degeneration in several phases. In the initial 'latent' phase, action potential propagation and structural integrity of the distal segment are maintained. The ...

Microanatomy of axon/glial signaling during Wallerian degeneration.

How do myelinated axons signal to the nuclei of cells that enwrap them? The cell bodies of oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells are segregated from axons by multiple layers of bimolecular lipid leaflet and myelin proteins. Conventional signal transduction strategies would seem inadequate to the challenge without special adaptations. Wallerian degeneration provides a model to study axon-to-Schwann...

A DLK-dependent axon self-destruction program promotes Wallerian degeneration

Nerve conduction during Wallerian degeneration in the baloon.

Conduction in the lateral popliteal nerve of the baboon was studied during the course of Wallerian degeneration. Six nerves were examined. In each case the muscle response to nerve stimulation and the ascending nerve action potential were recorded daily until the nerve became inexcitable. The muscle response to nerve stimulation disappeared after four to five days, but ascending nerve action po...

The Early Changes in the Axoplasm during Wallerian Degeneration

Axoplasmic changes were studied in the saphenous nerve of the albino rat during the early stages of Wallerian degeneration. The axons were examined at 0, 24, and 48 hours after the surgical transection of the nerve. The material was fixed in 2 per cent OsO(4) in phosphate buffer (pH 7.2-7.5) with sucrose (added to a final osmolar concentration of approximately 0.37 M). The earliest changes were...