Temporary adhesions between axons and myelin-forming processes

Abstract

Following irradiation, the dorsal funiculus of the lumbosacral spinal cord in the rat undergoes the following sequence of events: (a) a marked reduction of the normal glial population, (b) an absence of oligodendrocyte myelin formation, (c) the invasion and proliferation of Schwann cells, and (d) the myelination of axons within the cord by Schwann cells. The present study demonstrates that, during the latter process, junctional complexes develop between these intraspinal Schwann cells and the axolemma. These complexes are present at sites of probable initial contact between the two membranes. As the Schwann cell process begins to wrap the axons, these junctional complexes are located between the inner spiraling process of the Schwann cell and the axon. With the advancement of myelin formation to the stage of 8 to 9 compact spirals, these contacts are rarely observed. Spinal cords from normal 8-day-old rats were examined in order to determine if such contacts occur during myelination by oligodendrocytes. Although they are more difficult to detect in the normal animal due to the abundance of glial processes, similar junctional complexes occur between oligodendrocyte processes and axons. These observations suggest that these complexes may serve to stabilize and to guide the myelin-forming process around the perimeter of the axon. Additionally, these junctions may play an active role in the advancement of the inner spiraling process by forming temporary adhesions between the axolemma and the adjacent myelin-forming process. Coated vesicles are commonly observed fused with the axolemma of axons which are in the early stages of myelination. These coated vesicles may be involved in the insertion or the deletion of junctional membrane.