Stocker R F, Edwards J S, Truman J W
Cell Tissue Res. 1978 Jul 27;191(2):317-31. doi: 10.1007/BF00222427.
Ultrastructural aspects of the natural degeneration of a group of six motor neurons in the fourth abdominal ganglion of Manduca sexta are described. These motor neurons innervate intersegmental muscles that degenerate and disappear immediately after adult eclosion. The first detectable changes in the cell bodies appear 12h after eclosion and include disruption of the endoplasmic reticulum and an increase in the size and number of lamellar bodies. At 32h the nuclear membranes rupture, and the membranous and granular cytoorganelles segregate in different parts of the cell. At that stage the surrounding glial cells participate in the digestion of material from the degenerating neurons. From 72h onward the remaining neuronal structures become disrupted, and are finally transformed into a single, large lamellar body (residual body) within the glial profile. The degeneration pattern differs significantly from that of embryonic vertebrate neurons.
描述了烟草天蛾第四腹神经节中一组六个运动神经元自然退化的超微结构特征。这些运动神经元支配节间肌，节间肌在成虫羽化后立即退化并消失。细胞体中最早可检测到的变化出现在羽化后12小时，包括内质网的破坏以及板层小体的大小和数量增加。在32小时时，核膜破裂，膜性和颗粒性细胞器在细胞的不同部位分离。在那个阶段，周围的神经胶质细胞参与对退化神经元物质的消化。从72小时起，剩余的神经元结构被破坏，最终在神经胶质细胞轮廓内转化为一个单一的大的板层小体（残余小体）。这种退化模式与胚胎脊椎动物神经元的退化模式有显著差异。
