Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 25, 2026
Visualizing the Morphological Characteristics of Neuromuscular Junction in Rat Medial Gastrocnemius Muscle
Published on: May 17, 2022
[Morphological study of CNS lesions and the consequences on rat neuromuscular junction and peripheral nerve using
P Rigoard1, K Buffenoir, M Chaillou
1Service de neurochirurgie, CHU La-Milétrie, BP 577, 2, rue de la Milétrie, 86021 Poitiers, France. p.rigoard@chu-poitiers.fr
State Of The Art:
In humans, it is currently believed that peripheral nerves remain intact after central nervous system (CNS) injuries. This should lead us to observe a lack of amyotrophy in the peripheral projection areas of CNS damage. Nevertheless, the appearance of amyotrophy, described as underuse amyotrophy, is common in victims of CNS injury. Its pathophysiology remains poorly understood and is currently being debated. Amyotrophy could result directly from the structural deterioration of a nervous fiber in the muscular area corresponding to the CNS injury caused by neuromuscular junction (NMJ) changes.
Aims Of This Study:
The aims of this study were to assess the repercussions of a CNS injury on the NMJ and peripheral nerve complex and to evaluate the involvement of peripheral nerves and NMJs in plasticity.
Methodology:
Peripheral nerve and muscle biopsies were collected from a group of 35 female Wistar rats that had previously undergone a thoracic spinal cord hemisection (15 rats at the T2 level (group 1), 15 rats at the T6 level (group 2), and 5 matched rats used as controls). We studied the localization and expression of the NMJ molecular components in muscle specimens by immunohistochemistry using confocal microscopy. We also searched for signs of nerve and muscle degeneration using light and electron microscopy.
Results:
We observed nonpathologic NMJs coexisting with completely denervated and partially reinnervated NMJs. We also found characteristics of embryonic behavior in rat axons secondary to axonal caliber distortions. Some authors associate this decrease in axonal activity with physiological denervation.
Conclusion:
This project was designed to improve the understanding of the mechanisms involved in the interactions between the first and second motoneurons after different types of CNS injuries, with variable functional repercussions. Our results strongly suggest that CNS injuries lead to both morphological and functional repercussions at the NMJ and the peripheral nerve.
More Related Videos
11:03Characterization of Neuromuscular Junctions in Mice by Combined Confocal and Super-Resolution Microscopy
Published on: December 8, 2021
12:18The Neuromuscular Junction: Measuring Synapse Size, Fragmentation and Changes in Synaptic Protein Density Using Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: December 26, 2014