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Myelin structure and composition of myelinated tissue in the African lungfish

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2009

Daniel A. Kirschner ,
Jothie Karthigesan ,
Oscar A. Bizzozero ,
Bela Kosaras  and
Hideyo Inouye
Daniel A. Kirschner*
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Neuroscience, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Jothie Karthigesan
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Neuroscience, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Oscar A. Bizzozero
Affiliation:
Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA
Bela Kosaras
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Neuroscience, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Hideyo Inouye
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Neuroscience, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Professor Daniel A. Kirschner, Biology Department, Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467-3811, USA phone: 617 552 0211 fax: 617 552 2011 email: kirschnd@bc.edu
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Abstract

To analyze myelin structure and the composition of myelinated tissue in the African lungfish (Protopterus dolloi), we used a combination of ultrastructural and biochemical techniques. Electron microscopy showed typical multilamellar myelin: CNS sheaths abutted one another, and PNS sheaths were separated by endoneurial collagen. The radial component, prominent in CNS myelin of higher vertebrates, was suggested by the pattern of staining but was poorly organized. The lipid and myelin protein compositions of lungfish tissues more closely resembled those of teleost than those of higher vertebrates (frog, mouse). Of particular note, for example, lungfish glycolipids lacked hydroxy fatty acids. Native myelin periodicities from unfixed nerves were in the range of those for higher vertebrates rather than for teleost fish. Lungfish PNS myelin had wider inter-membrane spaces compared with other vertebrates, and lungfish CNS myelin had spaces that were closer in value to those in mammalian than to amphibian or teleost myelins. The membrane lipid bilayer was narrower in lungfish PNS myelin compared to other vertebrates, whereas in the CNS myelin the bilayer was in the typical range. Lungfish PNS myelin showed typical compaction and swelling responses to incubation in acidic or alkaline hypotonic saline. The CNS myelin, by contrast, did not compact in acidic saline but did swell in the alkaline solution. This lability was more similar to that for the higher vertebrates than for teleost.

Keywords

X-ray diffractionelectron microscopyDipnoiProtopterusphylogenyP0 glycoproteinproteolipid proteinlipidsfatty acidsradial component
Type
Research Article
Information
Neuron Glia Biology , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , May 2008 , pp. 59 - 70
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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