Anesth Pain Med.  2015 Oct;10(4):245-251. 10.17085/apm.2015.10.4.245.

Structural analysis of a ligatured rat sciatic nerve in the ex vivo state using synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)

• Kim BI
• Na HI
• Byun SH
• Shin TJ
• Ryu T
• Jung JY

• KMID: 2148007
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.17085/apm.2015.10.4.245

Abstract

BACKGROUND
To understand the fundamentals of neural tissue injury, experiments on the nano-structured nerve system of animals are essential. This study was designed to reveal the nanostructure changes of an isolated ligatured rat sciatic nerve using the synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) technique.
METHODS
Male Sprague-Dawley rats (weighing approximately 250 grams) were used in this study. The SAXS patterns of 1 week after ligatured nerves (N = 5) and the normal sciatic nerves (N = 5) for the control were acquired after extracted approximately 15 mm before the experiment. Experiments were conducted at the 4C1 beam line at the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory in Korea. The exposure time was 60 sec, and 8 to 12 images per sample were acquired in 0.5 mm intervals, including the regions above, around and below the ligatured position.
RESULTS
The periodic peaks of the myelin sheath and the interfibrillar space of collagen completely disappeared at the ligatured position. Farther from the ligatured point, weak and quite different SAXS patterns were observed for the myelin sheath and interfibrillar space. However, the collagen fiber peaks appeared at all positions, although they were weaker near the ligatured position.
CONCLUSIONS
The ligature treatment totally destroyed the myelin sheath and interfibrillar space of collagen. In addition, retrograde degeneration developed 2 mm above the ligatured site. The myelin sheath and interfibrillar space of collagen were damaged 6 mm below the ligatured site. However, the collagen fiber structure was not significantly affected by the ligature, indicating a much different structural organization.

Keyword

Myelin sheath; Nanostructure; Sciatic nerve ligation; Small angle X-ray scattering

MeSH Terms

Animals
Collagen
Gyeongsangbuk-do
Humans
Korea
Ligation
Male
Myelin Sheath
Nanostructures
Rats*
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Retrograde Degeneration
Sciatic Nerve*
Synchrotrons*
Collagen