Axoplasm

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Axoplasm is the cytoplasm within the axon of a neuron. Neural processes (axons and dendrites) contain about 99.6% of the cell’s cytoplasm, and 99.7% of that is in the axons (Sabry et al., 1995).

Axoplasm has a different composition of organelles and other materials than that found in the neuron's cell body or dendrites. For example, axons lack ribosomes and thus rely on axoplasmic transport to bring proteins to areas where they are needed. In axoplasmic transport, materials are carried through the axoplasm to or from the soma.

The electrical resistance of the axoplasm, called axoplasmic resistance, is one aspect of a neuron's cable properties, because it affects the rate of travel of an action potential down an axon. If the axoplasm contains many molecules that are not electrically conductive, it will slow the travel of the potential because it will cause more ions to flow across the axolemma (the axon's membrane) than through the axoplasm.

[edit] Reference

• Sabry J., O’Connor T. P., and Kirschner M. W. (1995). Axonal Transport of Tubulin in Ti1 Pioneer Neurons in Situ. Neuron. 14: 1247-1256.

v·d·e Histology: nervous tissue
Neurons (gray matter)	soma, axon (axon hillock, axoplasm, axolemma, neurofibril/neurofilament), dendrite (Nissl body, dendritic spine, apical dendrite, basal dendrite) types (bipolar, pseudounipolar, multipolar, pyramidal, Purkinje, granule)
Afferent nerve/Sensory nerve/Sensory neuron	GSA, GVA, SSA, SVA, fibers (Ia, Ib or Golgi, II or Aβ, III or Aδ or fast pain, IV or C or slow pain)
Efferent nerve/Motor nerve/Motor neuron	GSE, GVE, SVE, Upper motor neuron, Lower motor neuron (α motorneuron, γ motorneuron)
Synapses	neuropil, synaptic vesicle, neuromuscular junction, electrical synapse - Interneuron (Renshaw)
Sensory receptors	Free nerve ending, Meissner's corpuscle, Merkel nerve ending, Muscle spindle, Pacinian corpuscle, Ruffini ending, Olfactory receptor neuron, Photoreceptor cell, Hair cell, Taste bud
Glial cells	astrocyte, oligodendrocyte, ependymal cells, microglia, radial glia
Myelination (white matter)	Schwann cell, oligodendrocyte, nodes of Ranvier, internode, Schmidt-Lanterman incisures, neurolemma
Related connective tissues	epineurium, perineurium, endoneurium, nerve fascicle, meninges

This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Axoplasm. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.