Intrasomatic changes in the maturing hypoglossal nucleus after axon injury.

The intrasomatic reactions to different types of peripheral nerve injury during postnatal maturation were investigated by light and electron microscopy. The hypoglossal nerve was crushed in 7 day postnatal (dpn) rats and crushed, ligated or transected in 10 and 21 day rats. Survival intervals ranged from 3 to 40 days postoperative (dpo). Normal and sham operated rats of corresponding ages served as controls. The initial intrasomatic reactions in young (7-10 dpn) rats were identical after each type of nerve injury. These reactions involved the nucleus and the perinuclear cytoplasm: severe nuclear eccentricity and elaborate infoldings of the nuclear membrane were seen. The processes of cytoplasm indenting the nuclear membrane were intensely basophilic and contained numerous polyribosomes and cisterns of rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER). The formation of organized RER was not disrupted after axonal injury. Disorganization, fragmentation and degranulation of the cisterns were not apparent until 13-20 dpo. Comparable nerve injuries to older (21 dpn) rats produced structural alterations of the same organelles. However, the initial intrasomatic response involved the organized RER and the extent of the changes was directly related to the severity of nerve injury. Nuclear changes occurred later and only after nerve ligation and transection. Therefore, two major differences characterized the intrasomatic reactions to axonal injury in young and older motoneurons. The timetable of involvement of two organelles, the nucleus and the organized RER, was reversed in the sequence of intrasomatic reactions after axonal damage during successive periods of postnatal development. The magnitude of intrasomatic reactions to different types of nerve injury was age-dependent.