Recovery of node of ranvier structure in optic nerve under visual deprivation.

Neural activity can increase the length of nodes of Ranvier (NOR) and slow impulse transmission; however, little is known about the biologically and clinically important recovery process. Sensory deprivation promotes neural plasticity in many phenomena, raising the question of whether recovery of NOR morphology is influenced by sensory deprivation. The results show that NOR gap length recovery in mouse optic nerve was not affected significantly by binocular visual deprivation imposed by maintaining mice in 24 hr dark for 30 days compared to mice recovering under normal visual experience. The findings provide insight into the cellular mechanism of NOR plasticity. • Recovery of node of Ranvier morphology in adult mouse optic nerve is not altered by binocular visual deprivation. • Node of Ranvier morphology is reversibly altered by exocytosis from astrocytes. • This form of node of Ranvier plasticity can take place in adult mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]