The ultrastructure of bovine peripheral nerve sheath tumours.

Bovine peripheral nerve sheath tumours from 30 cattle were similar ultrastructurally to human schwannomas and neurofibromas. Bovine neurofibromatous tissue had large amounts of extracellular material, primarily collagen and electron lucent granular material. The principal cells had basal laminae and a disorganized proliferation of the plasmalemma. Axons were consistently seen and were surrounded by the plasmalemma of principal cells. The principal cells seemed to be Schwann cells or variants of them. Bovine schwannomas had areas similar to Antoni type A tissue with sparse extracellular material, few, if any, axons, and an apparent organized layering of cytoplasmic processes clad in a basal lamina. Cell nuclei often formed palisades. The principal cells in bovine schwannomas might be derived either from Schwann cells or perinuerial cells. Bovine schwannomas appeared together with bovine neurofibromatous tissue in affected nerves.