Biomaterial Database

Tight junctions between the axon and Schwann cell during PNS regeneration. 1996

M Dezawa, and T Mutoh, and A Dezawa, and T Ishide

Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan.

We report here that during PNS regeneration, short focal tight junctions are present at the interface of regenerating axons and Schwann cells in the distal part of the transected nerve. When regrowing axons were seen in the distal segment, focal fusions of axonal and Schwann cell membranes were observed on electron microscopy. Freeze-fracture study showed short arrays of intramembrane particles in the contacting membrane of axons and Schwann cells. Immunohistochemical study revealed the localization of ZO-1 tight junction associated protein at discrete sites of axon-Schwann cell contact. These results suggest that mechanical links of the axon and Schwann cell by means of short tight junctions are involved in axon-Schwann cell contact events during PNS regeneration.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008854	Microscopy, Electron	Microscopy using an electron beam, instead of light, to visualize the sample, thereby allowing much greater magnification. The interactions of ELECTRONS with specimens are used to provide information about the fine structure of that specimen. In TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY the reactions of the electrons that are transmitted through the specimen are imaged. In SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY an electron beam falls at a non-normal angle on the specimen and the image is derived from the reactions occurring above the plane of the specimen.	Electron Microscopy
D012038	Regeneration	The physiological renewal, repair, or replacement of tissue.	Endogenous Regeneration,Regeneration, Endogenous,Regenerations
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D001369	Axons	Nerve fibers that are capable of rapidly conducting impulses away from the neuron cell body.	Axon
D012583	Schwann Cells	Neuroglial cells of the peripheral nervous system which form the insulating myelin sheaths of peripheral axons.	Schwann Cell,Cell, Schwann,Cells, Schwann
D017208	Rats, Wistar	A strain of albino rat developed at the Wistar Institute that has spread widely at other institutions. This has markedly diluted the original strain.	Wistar Rat,Rat, Wistar,Wistar Rats
D051381	Rats	The common name for the genus Rattus.	Rattus,Rats, Laboratory,Rats, Norway,Rattus norvegicus,Laboratory Rat,Laboratory Rats,Norway Rat,Norway Rats,Rat,Rat, Laboratory,Rat, Norway,norvegicus, Rattus
D017933	Peripheral Nervous System	The nervous system outside of the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system has autonomic and somatic divisions. The autonomic nervous system includes the enteric, parasympathetic, and sympathetic subdivisions. The somatic nervous system includes the cranial and spinal nerves and their ganglia and the peripheral sensory receptors.	Nervous System, Peripheral,Nervous Systems, Peripheral,Peripheral Nervous Systems,System, Peripheral Nervous,Systems, Peripheral Nervous
D019108	Tight Junctions	Cell-cell junctions that seal adjacent epithelial cells together, preventing the passage of most dissolved molecules from one side of the epithelial sheet to the other. (Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 2nd ed, p22)	Occluding Junctions,Zonula Occludens,Junction, Occluding,Junction, Tight,Junctions, Occluding,Junctions, Tight,Occluden, Zonula,Occludens, Zonula,Occluding Junction,Tight Junction,Zonula Occluden