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The Journal of Cell Biology, Vol 43, 456-479, Copyright © 1969 by Rockefeller University Press

ARTICLE

SPATIAL PATTERNS OF THREADLIKE ELEMENTS IN THE AXOPLASM OF THE GIANT NERVE FIBER OF THE SQUID (LOLIGO PEALII L.) AS DISCLOSED BY DIFFERENTIAL INTERFERENCE MICROSCOPY AND BY ELECTRON MICROSCOPY

J. Metuzals 1 and C. S. Izzard 1

1 From the Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa Ottawa, Canada; the Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York, Albany New York 12203; and the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543.

Dr. Metuzals' present address is the Institute of Neurobiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Göteborg, Göteborg, Sweden

The giant nerve fiber of the squid (Loligo pealii L.) has been investigated in situ, and in fresh and fixed preparations, by differential interference microscopy and electron microscopy. A continuous, three-dimensional network, composed of threadlike elements, was disclosed in the axoplasm. The threadlike elements in the axoplasm are twisted as a whole into a steep, right-handed helix. In a peripheral ectoplasmic region, the elements are more parallel to one another and more densely packed than in a central endoplasmic core. The threadlike elements can be resolved into a hierarchy of decreasing order of size. Successive levels of the hierarchy are formed by the association of smaller elements into larger ones. The following levels in the hierarchy of network elements have been distinguished: 1–3-µ-wide threads, 0.1–0.35-µ-wide strands, and 70–250-A-wide unit-filament strands. The differential interference microscope selects, from the network, threads oriented at a specific angle to the long axis of the axon. The specific angle depends upon the orientation of the long axis of the axon relative to the direction of shear. It is postulated that the network configuration is expressed in the solid-state properties of the axoplasm essential for the normal functioning of the nerve fiber.

Submitted on March 20, 1969
Revised on July 29, 1969


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