Axonal uptake of horseradish peroxidase isoenzymes during Wallerian degeneration.

Horseradish peroxidase isoenzymes were applied around crushed mouse hypoglossal nerves to study the influence of electrical charge on the uptake and ultrastructural distribution of macromolecules in axons distal to an injury. Both isoenzymes tested (Sigma type IX, cationic and type VII, anionic) were readily taken up into axons and moved in a distal direction along the nerve. Samples taken 1-3 mm below the crush showed that reaction products from both enzymes covered the inner surface of the axonal plasma membrane and were attached to organelles, particularly microtubules and neurofilaments. However, reaction product in the Schwann cell basement lamina and in the endoneurial collagen was much more dense with cationic peroxidase than with the anionic isoenzyme. Our study shows that both cationic and anionic macromolecules can move into axons distal to a nerve lesion. It can be assumed that also other agents can be taken up into axons and that 'wound substances' in this way may influence the processes by which axons are destroyed during Wallerian degeneration.