title: Differential effects of myostatin deficiency on motor and sensory axons.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Deletion of myostatin in mice (MSTN-/-) alters structural properties of peripheral axons. However, properties like axon diameter and myelin thickness were analyzed in mixed nerves, so it is unclear whether loss of myostatin affects motor, sensory, or both types of axons.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using the MSTN-/-mouse model, we analyzed the effects of increasing the number of muscle fibers on axon diameter, myelin thickness, and internode length in motor and sensory axons.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Axon diameter and myelin thickness were increased in motor axons of MSTN-/-mice without affecting internode length or axon number. The number of sensory axons was increased without affecting their structural properties.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that motor and sensory axons establish structural properties by independent mechanisms. Moreover, in motor axons, instructive cues from the neuromuscular junction may play a role in co-regulating axon diameter and myelin thickness, whereas internode length is established independently. Muscle Nerve 56: E100-E107, 2017.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.|C.S. Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri, 1201 East Rollins Road, Columbia, Missouri, 65211, USA.
authors.forename: Maria R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.|C.S. Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri, 1201 East Rollins Road, Columbia, Missouri, 65211, USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Villalón
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Adam J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Northcutt
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
authors.forename: Nigel A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Calcutt
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.|C.S. Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri, 1201 East Rollins Road, Columbia, Missouri, 65211, USA.
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Garcia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D055435:Myostatin / Q000172:deficiency*; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology*; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C525912:Mstn protein, mouse; D055435:Myostatin
keywords: axon diameter; innervation field; internode length; myelin thickness; myostatin deficiency; nerve conduction velocity