Zonulae occludentes of the myelin lamellae in the nerve fibre layer of the retina and in the optic nerve of the rabbit: A demonstration by the freeze-fracture method

Summary Ridges and grooves composing extensive zonulae occludentes are revealed by the freeze-fracture method on split myelin lamellae in the nerve fibre layer of the retina and in the optic nerve of the rabbit. The junctions are located immediately internal to the outer loop of the myelin sheath and in corresponding areas of deeper myelin layers. They follow a straight or gently undulating course along the axis of the fibres. Only at the paranodal region of nodes of Ranvier do they deviate and assume a transverse course. The strands of these zonulae occludentes probably represent the radial thickenings of the intraperiod line described in thin sections.An abstract of this paper was presented at the Colloque Annuel de la Société Francaise de Microscopie Electronique, Rennes, 27–30 May 1974.