Microenvironmental changes during axonal regrowth in the optic nerve of the myelin deficient rat. Immunocytochemical and ultrastructural observations.

Lesion-induced regenerative sprouting of CNS axons is accompanied by reactions of the supporting glia and vascular and connective tissue which may influence the extent of regeneration. In a previous report, it was shown that after crush injury, the amyelinated optic nerve of the myelin deficient (md) mutant rat contains greater numbers of regrowing axons proximal to the site of crush than that of normally myelinated littermates. The present study was designed to compare the response of the microenvironment, i.e. glial cells and vascular and connective tissue, in md and normally myelinated optic nerves 2, 4 and 6 days after crush injury. In unoperated normal optic nerves monoclonal antibodies to the HNK-1 carbohydrate labelled astrocytic processes at the ultrastructural level whereas in unoperated md mutants HNK-1 staining was restricted to axonal surfaces. Immunoreactivity with monoclonal antibodies to stage-specific embryonic antigen-1 (SSEA-1) was confined to astrocytic surfaces in both md and wildtype animals. After axotomy of md optic nerves regrowing axons were more numerous in the proximal site of the crush and extended further into the lesion than in wildtype animals. In both md and wildtype rats regrowing axons were HNK-1-positive. In md rats strong reaction with antibodies to laminin and fibronectin was only seen in 6-day-old lesions of md rats whereas immunoreactivity was less distinct in operated littermate controls. Immunolabelling was obviously associated with blood vessels, since crush lesions in both md and wildtype rats were Schwann cell-free as assessed by electron microscopy and immunocytochemistry. In both operated md and normal littermates crush lesions contained degenerating astrocytes as well as reactive astrocytes in which the intermediate filaments of the perikarya failed to stain immunocytochemically for GFAP, vimentin, desmin, and a common determinant of intermediate filaments. In contrast, reactive astrocytes in the lesion site of normally myelinated rats expressed the SSEA-1 antigen intracytoplasmically whereas in md mutants astrocytes were completely SSEA-1-negative. Infiltration of crush lesions by macrophages was less extensive in md rats than in normal littermates. However the overall content of macrophages in the peritoneal cavity was also reduced. The present study demonstrates that (1) md optic nerves lack HNK-1-reactive astrocytes; (2) in the axotomized wildtype optic nerve impaired axonal regrowth may be associated with distinct immuno-phenotypes of the supporting glial cells, i.e. SSEA-1-positive astrocytes; (3) laminin and fibronectin seem not to be essential for improved axonal regrowth in md rats.