Figure 10

Electron microscopy of regenerating axons in the digital and tibial nerves. Figs. 10a – d shows transverse sections of digital nerves of the fourth toe 21 days after sciatic nerve crush. In Fig. 10a an entire nerve is shown at low magnification (bar = 10 μm). Fig. 10b shows a regenerating axon (AX) with 2–3 wrappings of Schwann cell processes ('premyelinated' axon; bar = 200 nm), and Fig. 10c shows a large regenerating axon with a thin semi-compacted myelin sheath and satellite Schwann cell (SC) (remyelinating axon; bar = 200 nm). Both of these axons would have been counted in the analysis for Fig. 10f. Fig. 10d shows unmyelinated regenerating axons, some surrounded by a thin layer of Schwann cell cytoplasm (at arrowhead) and others embedded within Schwann cell cytoplasm (e.g. at arrow), neither of which would have been counted. Bar = 500nm. Figs. 10e shows counts of all axons and Fig. 10f of remyelinating axons only in the digital nerves of the fourth toe of wild-type (N = 6; black columns) and knockout mice (N = 6; grey columns) 17 days (Fig. 10e) and 21 days (Fig. 10f) after sciatic nerve crush. Difference between axon counts in wild-type and knockout mice are insignificant. Fig. 10g shows counts of myelinated and remyelinating axons in the tibial nerve 15 days after, and about 5 mm distal to, a crush lesion of the sciatic nerve in 8 wild-type (black column) and 6 knockout mice (grey column). Although the mean fibre count was 3087 in the knockout and 2375 in the wild-type mice, this difference was not statistically significant.