No abstract

Intra-axonal recordings were obtained in vitro from frog sciatic nerve axons. Adjusting whole nerve stimulation current to just subthreshold for the impaled axon elicited triphasic threshold changes in that axon. Threshold changes were determined by direct intra-axonal current application. Graded subthreshold depolarizations were present in many axons during the passage of action potentials in surrounding axons. When nerve branches were stimulated and axon recordings were obtained from the main nerve trunk, both branches, the one that activated the impaled axon and the one that did not, elicited threshold changes in the impaled axon. These data indicate on a cellular level that impulse activity in an intact nerve bundle can modulate the excitability of adjacent nonactivated fibers.

Extracellular application of potassium channel blocking agents is known to increase the amplitude and duration of the compound action potential in non-myelinated and demyelinated axons, but not in mature mammalian myelinated fibres. In the present study we used intra-axonal and whole nerve recording techniques to study the effects of the potassium channel blocking agent 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) on regenerating rat nerve fibres. Our results indicate that early regenerating (premyelinated) axons show considerable broadening of the action potential after 4-AP application and late regenerating (myelinated) axons give rise to burst activity following a single stimulus after 4-AP application. 4-AP did not affect spike waveform or firing properties of normal mature sciatic nerve fibres. These results demonstrate the importance of potassium conductance in stabilizing firing properties of myelinated regenerating axons.

We developed a rapid acid-digestion method for preparing tissue samples for iron determination. Specimens were digested in nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide under high temperature and pressure in closed Teflon vessels, with microwave energy. Analysis for iron in 25- to 250-mg portions of digested bovine liver powder (National Bureau of Standards Certified Reference Material no. 1577a) showed excellent linearity ([predicted] = 1.007[actual] - 0.166 micrograms per sample) and analytical recovery (98%). Precision (CV) was 5.4% when iron content was 10 micrograms per sample. Assaying split samples of mouse tissues, we found a close correlation between iron concentrations obtained with closed vs open vessels ([closed] = 0.878[open] + 68 micrograms/g, r = 0.994, range 400-4600 micrograms/g dry weight). In contrast to time-consuming conventional procedures for tissue dissolution, closed-vessel digestion with microwave energy dramatically shortens time for tissue preparation, minimizes use of caustic acid, reduces risk of sample loss or contamination, and yields accurate and reproducible results.