scholarly journals HISTOCHEMISTRY OF MUSCLE SPINDLES IN SNAKES OF NATRIX SPECIES

1974 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 881-886 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. PALLOT ◽  
JANIS TABERNER
Keyword(s):  
Adenosine Triphosphatase ◽  
Muscle Fibers ◽  
Succinic Dehydrogenase ◽  
Muscle Spindles ◽  
Intermediate Level ◽  
The Other ◽  
Intrafusal Fiber ◽  
Intrafusal Fibers ◽  
Low Levels

The muscle spindles of snakes consist of a single intrafusal fiber; in addition to this, two types of spindles are found. We have studied the histochemistry of the snake intrafusal fibers. One type of spindle, the long capsule spindle intrafusal fiber, is characterized by high levels of the enzymes myosin adenosine triphosphatase, succinic dehydrogenase and phosphorylase; the other type, the short capsule spindle intrafusal fiber, is characterized by low levels of myosin adenosine triphosphatase and phosphorylase and an intermediate level of succinic dehydrogenase. The short capsule spindle intrafusal fiber is thus histochemically similar to the tonic extrafusal fibers, whereas the long capsule spindle intrafusal fiber is similar to the twitch extrafusal muscle fibers. The long capsule spindle is concerned mainly with monitoring static length, the short capsule spindle with monitoring changes in length. It is interesting that the histochemical profiles of long and short capsule spindle intrafusal fibers are similar to the mammalian bag and chain fibers, respectively.

High incidence of long-chain fibers in spindles of cat superficial lumbrical muscles

1987 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 1050-1059 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Decorte ◽  
F. Emonet-Denand ◽  
D. W. Harker ◽  
Y. Laporte
Keyword(s):  
Atpase Activity ◽  
Muscle Spindles ◽  
Fiber Types ◽  
Intrafusal Fiber ◽  
Intrafusal Fibers ◽  
Spindle Poles ◽  
Fresh Frozen ◽  
Intrafusal Fiber Types ◽  
Lumbrical Muscles ◽  
Long Chain

Forty-two complete spindle poles of cat superficial lumbrical muscles were analyzed with particular regard to the length and the diameter of intrafusal fiber types. Poles were reconstructed from serial transverse sections of fresh-frozen muscles. The staining module, which was repeated throughout the whole muscle, comprised sections treated for glycogen detection and sections treated for detecting myofibrillar ATPase activity after preincubation at three different pH's (see METHODS). The identification of intrafusal fiber types was essentially based on the ATPase activity of the B region of the intrafusal fibers. Long-chain fibers, i.e., chain fibers that have at least one pole that extends by more than one millimeter beyond the end of the spindle capsule (6), were very commonly observed. Of 42 spindle poles analyzed, 30 (71%) contained at least one long-chain fiber (one in 17 spindle poles, 2 in 11 poles, and 3 in 2 poles). Of 246 poles of chain fibers, 45 (18%) were "long". In four spindles, in which both poles could be completely examined, 10 long-chain fibers were observed. In eight of these, only one pole was long; the opposite pole ended either intracapsularly or at a short distance outside the capsule. Since long-chain fiber poles, presently considered to be among the effectors of static skeletofusimotor (beta) axons, are present in a large proportion of muscle spindles of lumbrical muscles, it would be of particular interest to reevaluate the beta-supply of these muscles by physiological methods.

Treatment with beta bungarotoxin blocks muscle spindle formation in fetal rats

Development ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 483-489
Author(s):  
J. Kucera ◽  
J.M. Waldro
Keyword(s):  
Peripheral Nerves ◽  
Muscle Fibers ◽  
Muscle Spindles ◽  
Myosin Isoforms ◽  
Myosin Heavy Chains ◽  
Heavy Chains ◽  
Intrafusal Fibers ◽  
Intramuscular Nerves ◽  
Fetal Rats ◽  
Intramuscular Nerve

Sensory and motor fibers of peripheral nerves were irreversibly destroyed in fetal rats by administering beta bungarotoxin (BTX) on embryonic day 16 or 17, after assembly of primary myotubes, but before the formation of muscle spindles. Soleus muscles of toxin-treated fetuses and their untreated littermates were removed just prior to birth and were examined by light microscopy of serial transverse sections for the presence of spindles and immunocytochemical expression of several isoforms of myosin heavy chains (MHC). Untreated muscles exhibited numerous spindles that were innervated by branches of intramuscular nerves and contained muscle fibers expressing a slow-tonic MHC isoform characteristic of the intrafusal but not extrafusal fibers. Toxin-treated muscles were devoid of intramuscular nerve bundles and perineurial structures. Encapsulations of muscle fibers resembling spindles were absent and no myotubes expressed the slow-tonic MHC isoform associated with intrafusal fibers in beta BTX-treated muscles. Thus, the assembly of muscle spindles, formation of the spindle capsule, and transformation of undifferentiated myotubes into the intrafusal fibers that contain spindle-specific myosin isoforms all depend on the presence of innervation in prenatal rat muscles.

Postnatal cytochemical development of muscle fibers in segmental tail muscles of the rat

Development ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 425-435
Author(s):  
W. K. Ovalle
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Fiber Type ◽  
Muscle Fibers ◽  
Sensory Nerve ◽  
Staining Intensity ◽  
Initial Contact ◽  
Strong Reaction ◽  
Intrafusal Fiber ◽  
Intrafusal Fibers ◽  
Intrafusal Muscle Fibers

Postnatal development of extrafusal and intrafusal muscle fibers was examined histochemically in segmental tail muscles of the rat. At birth all fibers show a strong reaction for myosin ATPase, uniformity in diameter, and homogeneity in staining intensity. During the first postnatal week, the muscle fibers undergo gradual hypertrophy and hyperplasia but they all maintain the same intense homogeneous staining pattern for the enzyme. By day 9, further differentiation of the muscle fibers results in the formation of a second intrafusal fiber type while the extrafusal fibers are still relatively homogeneous. Finally, two kinds of extrafusal fiber and a third type of intrafusal fiber can be distinguished by day 21. This histochemical fiber pattern is essentially maintained in the adult. These findings show that fiber type development in rat tail muscles lags behind the usual time course of myogenesis known to occur in more rostral regions of the animal. It also indicates that histochemical differentiation of intrafusal fibers in these muscles does not parallel that which occurs in extrafusal fibers. It is likely that arrival and initial contact of sensory nerve terminals on developing intrafusal fibers at day 7 directly influences their relatively early histochemical heterogeneity.

scholarly journals A Histochemical Study of Normal and Denervated Red and White Muscles of the Rat

1958 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivianne T. Nachmias ◽  
Helen A. Padykula
Keyword(s):  
Adenosine Triphosphatase ◽  
Histochemical Study ◽  
Muscle Fibers ◽  
Succinic Dehydrogenase ◽  
Biceps Femoris ◽  
Fiber Types ◽  
Albino Rat ◽  
Whole Muscle ◽  
Red And White Muscles

The distribution and characterization of the fibers of normal and denervated red and white muscles of the albino rat are reported in this study. Histochemical procedures for succinic dehydrogenase, lipides, adenosinetriphosphatase, esterase, and glycogen were utilized to differentiate muscle fibers, and these methods facilitated the study of the distribution of fiber types within whole muscle. Muscle fibers of the granular type (dark or red fibers) can be clearly distinguished from those with clearer sarcoplasm (light or white fibers) by methods for demonstrating succinic dehydrogenase, lipides, and esterase. The method for adenosine-triphosphatase reveals differences only under the special conditions described in the text. Additional fiber types are described in the cat's diaphragm and in the extrinsic ocular muscles of the rat. Succinic dehydrogenase and adenosinetriphosphatase activities of the soleus and biceps femoris were studied 14 days after denervation of these muscles. The histochemical findings are discussed principally in the light of current biochemical knowledge of these enzymes.

scholarly journals Physiological Signs of the Activation of Bag2 and Chain Intrafusal Muscle Fibers of Gastrocnemius Muscle Spindles in the Cat

1998 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Taylor ◽  
P. H. Ellaway ◽  
R. Durbaba
Keyword(s):  
Gastrocnemius Muscle ◽  
Muscle Fibers ◽  
Muscle Spindles ◽  
Fiber Types ◽  
Dominant Type ◽  
Intrafusal Muscle ◽  
Chance Distribution ◽  
Intrafusal Fibers ◽  
Intrafusal Muscle Fibers ◽  
Prolonged Response

Taylor, A., P. H. Ellaway, and R. Durbaba. Physiological signs of the activation of bag2 and chain intrafusal muscle fibers of gastrocnemius muscle spindles in the cat. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 130–142, 1998. A method is described for identifying the effect of single gamma static (γs) axons on bag2 or chain intrafusal fibers using random (Poisson-distributed) stimuli. The cross-correlogram of the stimuli with the firing of spindle primary afferents took one of three forms. A large, simple, brief response was taken to indicate pure chain fiber activation and a small, prolonged response to indicate pure bag2 activation. A compound response with brief and prolonged components was taken to be a sign of mixed innervation. The correlogram components could be well fitted with lognormal curves. They could also be transformed into curves of gain as a function of frequency, which were convenient for estimating the strength of the effects. In 68 effects of γs axons on Ia afferents, 16 were pure chain, 17 pure bag2, and 35 mixed. This distribution was significantly different ( P < 0.05) from that expected from chance nonspecific innervation of chain and bag2 fibers. Making use of the estimates of the strength of chain and bag2 effects derived from the gain curves, the classification was modified by treating mixed responses that had one effect more than five times stronger than the other as belonging to the dominant type. The distribution was then as follows: chain 16, bag2 28, and mixed 24. This differed very significantly from the prediction of chance distribution ( P < 0.001). This evidence for some degree of specific innervation of chain and bag2 fibers is discussed in relation to previous work and with regard to the ways in which the two fiber types might be used in natural movements.

scholarly journals HISTOCHEMICAL DUALITY OF RABBIT INTRAFUSAL FIBERS

1969 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 348-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALFRED J. SPIRO ◽  
REBECCA L. BEILIN
Keyword(s):  
Adenosine Triphosphatase ◽  
Muscle Spindles ◽  
Fiber Types ◽  
Rabbit Muscle ◽  
Intrafusal Fibers ◽  
Physiologic Responses

Using the adenosine triphosphatase reaction two histochemically distinct types of intrafusal fibers were demonstrated in rabbit muscle spindles despite morphologic homogeneity of these fibers. This finding, reflecting metabolic differences between these fiber types, is offered as an explanation for the previously unexplained heterogeneity of their physiologic responses.

scholarly journals A HISTOCHEMICAL INVESTIGATION OF INTRAFUSAL FIBERS IN TORTOISE MUSCLE SPINDLES

1972 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 200-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALAN CROWE ◽  
ABDUL H.M.F. RAGAB
Keyword(s):  
Propylene Glycol ◽  
Muscle Spindle ◽  
Succinic Dehydrogenase ◽  
Muscle Spindles ◽  
Histochemical Investigation ◽  
Intrafusal Muscle ◽  
Intrafusal Fibers ◽  
Intrafusal Muscle Fibers ◽  
Extensor Digitorum Brevis ◽  
Intrafusal Muscle Fiber

Histochemical investigations upon intrafusal muscle fibers of spindles in the extensor digitorum brevis 1 muscle of the tortoise have been carried out. The localization of phosphorylase, succinic dehydrogenase and adenosine activities together with the demonstration of lipids by the propylene glycol-Sudan method all failed to produce results which could be used to categorize the intrafusal fibers into more than one type. From these results and from previous histologic investigations it is suggested that the tortoise muscle spindle contains just one kind of intrafusal muscle fiber.

scholarly journals The role of muscle spindles in the development of the monosynaptic stretch reflex

2012 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi Wang ◽  
LingYing Li ◽  
Eric Frank
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Fibers ◽  
Muscle Spindles ◽  
Synaptic Connections ◽  
Intrafusal Muscle ◽  
Intrafusal Fibers ◽  
Sensory Axons ◽  
Neurotrophin 3 ◽  
Erbb2 Receptor ◽  
Intrafusal Muscle Fibers

Muscle sensory axons induce the development of specialized intrafusal muscle fibers in muscle spindles during development, but the role that the intrafusal fibers may play in the development of the central projections of these Ia sensory axons is unclear. In the present study, we assessed the influence of intrafusal fibers in muscle spindles on the formation of monosynaptic connections between Ia (muscle spindle) sensory axons and motoneurons (MNs) using two transgenic strains of mice. Deletion of the ErbB2 receptor from developing myotubes disrupts the formation of intrafusal muscle fibers and causes a nearly complete absence of functional synaptic connections between Ia axons and MNs. Monosynaptic connectivity can be fully restored by postnatal administration of neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), and the synaptic connections in NT-3-treated mice are as specific as in wild-type mice. Deletion of the Egr3 transcription factor also impairs the development of intrafusal muscle fibers and disrupts synaptic connectivity between Ia axons and MNs. Postnatal injections of NT-3 restore the normal strengths and specificity of Ia–motoneuronal connections in these mice as well. Severe deficits in intrafusal fiber development, therefore, do not disrupt the establishment of normal, selective patterns of connections between Ia axons and MNs, although these connections require the presence of NT-3, normally supplied by intrafusal fibers, to be functional.

scholarly journals Testing the Classification of Static γ Axons Using Different Patterns of Random Stimulation

1999 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
pp. 2823-2832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Petit ◽  
Robert W. Banks ◽  
Yves Laporte
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Fiber ◽  
Muscle Fibers ◽  
Muscle Spindles ◽  
Intrafusal Fiber ◽  
Intrafusal Muscle ◽  
Intrafusal Muscle Fibers ◽  
Initial Peak ◽  
Stimulation Of ◽  
Intrafusal Muscle Fiber

Testing the classification of static γ axons using different patterns of random stimulation. The possibility of using randomly generated stimulus intervals (with a Poisson distribution) to identify the type(s) of intrafusal fiber activated by the stimulation of single static γ axons was tested in Peroneus tertius muscle spindles of anesthetized cats. Three patterns of random stimulation with different values of mean intervals [20 ± 4.47, 30 ± 8.94, and 40 ± 8.94 (SD) ms] were used. Single static γ axons activating, in single spindles, either the bag2 fiber alone or the chain fibers alone or both types of intrafusal fiber were prepared. Responses of spindle primary endings elicited by the stimulation of γ axons were recorded from Ia fibers in cut dorsal root filaments. Cross-correlograms between stimuli and spikes of the primary ending responses, autocorrelograms, interval histograms of responses, and stimulations were built. The characteristics of cross-correlograms were found to be related not only to the type of intrafusal muscle fibers activated but also to the parameters of the stimulation. Moreover some cross-correlograms with similar characteristics were produced by the activation of different intrafusal muscle fibers. It also was observed that, whatever the type of intrafusal muscle fiber activated, cross-correlograms could exhibit oscillations after an initial peak, provided the extent in frequency of the primary ending response was small; these oscillations arise in part from the autocorrelation of the primary ending responses. Therefore, cross-correlograms obtained during random stimulation of static γ axons cannot be used for unequivocally identifying the type(s) of intrafusal muscle fiber these axons supply.

Impulse initiation in the mammalian muscle spindle during combined fusimotor stimulation and succinyl choline infusion

1996 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 1703-1713 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. Carr ◽  
D. L. Morgan ◽  
U. Proske
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Spindles ◽  
Functional Independence ◽  
Steady Increase ◽  
Succinyl Choline ◽  
Intrafusal Fiber ◽  
Mammalian Muscle ◽  
Intrafusal Fibers ◽  
Gamma S ◽  
Root Stimulation ◽  
Stimulation Of

1. This is a report of observations on the responses of the primary and secondary endings of soleus muscle spindles of the anesthetized cat to the combined effects of the depolarizing neuromuscular blocker succinyl choline (SCh), given intravenously, and fusimotor stimulation. The findings were interpreted in terms of a dual pacemaker model for activity generated in the bag1 intrafusal fiber interacting with activity coming from bag2 and chain fibers. 2. In preliminary experiments it was found, using whole ventral root stimulation at fusimotor strength, that spindle responses to fusimotor stimulation were not blocked by SCh, whereas extrafusal junctions blocked rapidly. In the presence of SCh, fusimotor responses of spindle secondary endings were, on average, slightly larger than their control values before SCh was given, whereas fusimotor responses of primary endings were slightly smaller. 3. A study of the responses of spindle primary endings to stimulation of single dynamic (gamma D) and static (gamma S) axons in the presence of SCh revealed a fundamental difference in behavior. None of the responses to stimulation of gamma D axons (9 gamma D axons with 8 primary endings) showed significant summation with the responses to SCh. By contrast, the 20 gamma S axons studied showed varying degrees of summation with the responses to SCh. The responses of secondary endings to gamma S stimulation in the presence of SCh resembled those of primary endings and gamma S stimulation. 4. To explain these differences it is proposed that the primary ending has two separate sites of impulse initiation, one close to terminals on the bag1 intrafusal fiber (innervated by gamma D axons) and a second close to terminals on the bag2 and chain fibers (innervated by gamma S axons). It is proposed that the maintained increase in spindle firing observed during SCh infusion is the result of a bag2 contracture. The response to gamma S stimulation, contracting bag2 and chain fibers, adds to the SCh response. The degree of summation varies depending on whether the gamma S activates bag2 fibers, chain fibers, or both. The bag1 contracture, together with the effects of gamma D stimulation, acts through a separate pacemaker and therefore does not sum with the steady increase in spindle firing in the presence of SCh. There may be pacemaker switching between the bag1 generator and the bag2 and chain generator. 5. If the model is representative of most spindles containing the three kinds of intrafusal fibers, and the contractions of bag2 and chain fibers generate activity through a common impulse generator, then this bears on the question of the functional independence of the bag2 and chain fiber systems.

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