The Journal of Cell Biology, Vol 97, 6-14, Copyright © 1983 by The Rockefeller University Press
Proximodistal degeneration of C-fibers detached from their perikarya
P Cancalon
Degeneration was followed in the garfish olfactory nerve after removal of
the mucosa containing the cell bodies. Degeneration, as measured by a
decrease in the weight of consecutive 3-mm nerve segments, spreads at
constant velocity from the site of injury toward the synaptic area. The
proximodistal degeneration is temperature dependent and progresses from 0.3
mm/d at 10 degrees C to 13.0 mm/d at 35 degrees C. Between 14 and 35
degrees C, the velocity increases linearly with temperature. At all the
temperatures investigated, these proximodistal degeneration velocities are
identical to the rates of slow intraaxonal flow measured in axons detached
from their cell bodies, or to the rates measured in regenerating fibers,
and, except at 10 degrees C, are 3.3 times faster than the rate of slow
flow in intact nerves. These results were confirmed by light and electron
microscopy. We hypothesize that the collapse and subsequent degeneration of
the axons is the result of a proximodistal depletion of cytoskeletal
elements no longer provided by the cell body to the axon by slow
intraaxonal flow. A significant number of axons disappeared rapidly from
the nerve before the arrival of the slow degenerative wave. From studies by
other groups, this rapid degeneration may be the result of a lack of
rapidly transported, mainly membranous components.
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