THE ROLE OF WATER IN THE STRUCTURE OF PERIPHERAL NERVE MYELIN

Abstract

In the study of the drying kinetics of nerve fibers, at least 5 "phases" of water evaporation can be distinguished.A consideration of the accompanying changes in low-angle X-ray diffraction patterns permits a tentative identification of the "phases" and a quantitative interpretation of the data in terms of the water distribution in nerve fibers. These results suggest that the myelin sheath of frog sciatic nerve contains 40-50% water, and it is suggested further that the greater part of this water is "organized" in relation to the hydrophilic groups of the lipid and protein components.