Detachment of structurally intact nerve endings from chromatolytic neurones of rat superior cervical ganglion during the depression of synaptic transmission induced by post-ganglionic axotomy.

1. Electrophysiological studies showed that injury of post-ganglionic nerve fibres leads to severe and prolonged depression of synaptic transmission through the rat superior cervical ganglion, beginning within 24 h. This is in line with the results of previous studies in other species and upon other neurones. 2. electron microscopy after post-ganglionic axotomy revealed nerve endings of presynaptic type with all the specialized membrane-related features of a synaptic zone, but which were not apposed to any post-synaptic nervous element. These umusual profiles were interpreted as detached presynaptic nerve endings. In normal and control ganglia, such profiles formed at most 0-5% of all vesicle-containing profiles of presynaptic type; in ganglia with all major post-ganglionic branches cut the proportion rose to approximately 7%, between 3 and 7 d post-operatively. Over this period, the mean incidence of chromatolytic neurones was 74-6%. 3. Concomitantly, the incidence of synapses within the ganglion fell by about 75%, reaching its lowest levels between 3 and 7 d post-operatively. There was strikingly little evidence of persistence of post-synaptic membrane specializations ('membrane thickenings') following detachment of synapses. 4. At longer survival intervals the incidence of synapses gradually increased, and that of detached nerve endings gradually decreased; recovery was well advanced by 42 d. 5. The fall in the incidence of synapses was closely paralleled by a fall in the incidence of desmosome-like attachments in the ganglion; the incidence of such attachments was found to be correlated to a significant degree with that of synapses. 6. It is concluded that most or all of the synapses upon sympathetic neurones become physically dissociated during the chromatolytic reaction of these neurones to axotomy. The failure to persist of ultrastructurally specialized post-synaptic sites, and the loss of desmosomes (particularly marked for those involving purely post-ganglionic nervous elements) suggest that the post-ganglionic neurone is losing all its specializations for attachment. 7. Some evidence suggests that the satellite cells may effect the final separation between pre- and post-synaptic structures.