Gliogenesis: historical perspectives, 1839-1985.

This historical review of gliogenesis begins with Schwann's introduction of the cell doctrine in 1839. Subsequent microscopic studies revealed the cellular structure of many organs and tissues, but the CNS was thought to be different. In 1864, Virchow created the concept that nerve cells are held together by a "Nervenkitte" which he called"glia" (for glue).

Local administration of vasoactive intestinal peptide after nerve transection accelerates early myelination and growth of regenerating axons.

Our goal was to determine whether local injections of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) promote early stages of regeneration after nerve transection. Sciatic nerves were transected bilaterally in 2 groups of 10 adult mice. In the first group, 15 microg (20 microL) of VIP were injected twice daily into the gap between transected ends of the right sciatic nerve for 7 days (4 mice) or 14 days (6 mice).

An experimental analysis of interlamellar tight junctions in amphibian and mammalian C.N.S. myelin.

The distribution of interlamellar tight junctions was examined in myelin sheaths of Xenopus tadpole optic nerve and rabbit epiretinal tissue fixed with aldehydes, postfixed with osmium ferrocyanide and embedded in a water-soluble medium, Durcupan. Intramyelinic zonulae occludentes were clearly formed by fusion of adjacent intraperiod lines which corresponded to the external leaflets of oligodendrocytes. These occurred in register with other tight junctions present within successive lamellae and appeared as a series of radial lines extending either partially or totally across the thickness of the myelin sheath.

Immunocytochemical method to identify basic protein in myelin-forming oligodendrocytes of newborn rat C.N.S.

An immunocytochemical method for detecting myelin basic protein in oligodendrocytes and myelin of newborn rat C.N.S.