Increase in axonal transport in demyelinating optic nerve fibres in the mouse infected with Semliki Forest virus.

Since the integrity of myelin and axon is closely linked with the transport of substances along the axon, changes in the fast and slow axonal transport in the demyelinating optic nerves of mice infected with Semliki Forest virus were studied. Radioactive analysis of the superior colliculi and the optic nerves was thus made following different survival times after an intravitreal injection of tritiated proline by autoradiographic and liquid scintillation counting techniques. The amounts of both the fast and slow axonal transport of proteins were significantly higher in the optic nerves of mice infected with the virus than those found in the optic nerves of control mice. These results suggest that demyelinating fibres send a signal to the perikarya which then responds by synthesizing more proteins.