Summary
The cervical spinal cords from Jimpy and normal mice were examined by light and electron microscopy at 2 to 29 days after birth. By 2 days after birth the number of myelinated fibres present in the Jimpy spinal cord was significant less than the number present in normal spinal cords. This made it possible to identify the Jimpy mice before onset of the clinical symptoms. The paucity in myelin was also demonstrated by biochemical criteria. Astroglia cell sappeared normal in the Jimpy spinal cord but there was an apparent disturbance in the development of the oligodendroglial cell line, resulting in the appearance of abnormal cells containing voluminous lipid inclusions and/or membranous tubes. The probable significance of these observations and their relation to the myelin defect in the Jimpy mouse is discussed in the light of pathogenetic theories of human leukodystrophies.
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This work was supported by grants Nr. 3.747.72 and Nr. 3.697.71 of the Swiss National Fund.
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Meier, C., Herschkowitz, N. & Bischoff, A. Morphological and biochemical observations in the Jimpy spinal cord. Acta Neuropathol 27, 349–362 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00690699
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00690699