[Satellite cells of te dorsal root ganglia in neuronal hypertrophy]

Amputation of the lizard tail is followed by its complete regeneration over a period of six-eight months. The new tail is innervated only by the last three pairs of spinal nerves upstream from the plane of amputation, since no nerve cells are present in the regenerated. The corresponding dorsal root ganglia increase in volume (hypertrophic ganglia) and most of their sensory neurons become hypertrophic. Satellite cells belonging to this hypertrophic ganglia increase in number. This paper describes an autoradiographic study, after administration of tritiated thymidine, of the hypertrophic dorsal root ganglia of the lizard during tail regeneration. We evaluated the number of satellite cells which neo-synthetize DNA ('labeling index = LI%) and are therefore suitable to undergo cell division. The LI% was significatively increased in hypertrophic ganglia when compared to internal control ganglia (not directly involved in the reinnervation process) and normal ganglia (lizards with intact tails). The comparison between internal control ganglia and normal ganglia showed higher LI% values in the formers, although this difference was not statistically significative. These results are in line with those obtained by other authors and suggest that satellite cells of dorsal root ganglia can undergo cellular proliferation also in the adult, especially in particular experimental conditions.