title: Connective tissues in the optic nerve and in peripheral nerves: ultrastructural observations.
abstract: The connective tissues of the bovine optic nerve and left recurrent nerve have been investigated at the ultrastructure level by TEM and freeze-fracture. The outermost of three concentric sheaths enveloping the nerve appear very similar; the intermediate sheaths appear different enough to suggest different functionalities, while the innermost sheaths are completely dissimilar. The ultrastructural aspects of the extracellular matrix suggest that all the connective tissues may mainly play a passive role as a packing material for the nerve fibers, while none of the sheaths seems apt to withstand mechanical stresses.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Anatomia Umana Normale, Università di Bologna.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: De Pasquale
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Della Pasqua
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Biase
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schiavi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Strocchi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raspanti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D003238:Connective Tissue / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004547:Elastic Tissue / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D005614:Freeze Fracturing; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D012009:Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve / Q000648:ultrastructure*