Filipin-sterol complexes in disrupted myelin in the rat

Using filipin as a cytochemical probe for cholesterol we have compared the distribution of filipin labelling in mildly disrupted myelin and normal myelin. The myelin lamellae in rat sciatic nerve were separated either by hypotonic saline (0.035-0.07 M) or nerve section (24-32 h) before aldehyde fixation and filipin treatment. Myelin separation was assessed in ultrathin sections and filipin distribution in freeze-fracture replicas. In separated myelin lamellae filipin labelling was similar throughout the myelin sheath while in normal control myelin filipin occurred most in the outer (abaxonal), least in the inner (adaxonal) and intermediate in the middle lamellae. It is concluded that this heterogeneous filipin labelling in normal myelin is a result of diffusion gradients to filipin within the myelin sheath and that in vivo cholesterol is uniformly distributed throughout all the lamellae of the myelin sheath. The site of the diffusion barrier to filipin within normal myelin is considered.