Electrophysiological and ultrastructural correlates of cryoinjury in sciatic nerve of the freeze-tolerant wood frog, Rana sylvatica

We investigated function and ultrastructure of sciatic nerves isolated from wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) endemic to the Northwest Territories, Canada, following freezing at −2.5 °C, −5.0 °C, or −7.5 °C. All frogs frozen at −2.5 °C, and most frogs (71%) frozen at −5.0 °C, recovered within 14 h after thawing began; however, frogs did not survive exposure to −7.5 °C. Sciatic nerves isolated from frogs frozen at −7.5 °C were refractory to electrical stimulation, whereas those obtained from frogs surviving exposure to −2.5 °C or −5.0 °C generally exhibited normal characteristics of compound action potentials. Frogs responded to freezing by mobilizing hepatic glycogen reserves to synthesize the cryoprotectant glucose, which increased 20-fold in the liver and 40-fold in the blood. Ultrastructural analyses of nerves harvested from frogs in each treatment group revealed that freezing at −2.5 °C or −5.0 °C had little or no effect on tissue and cellular organization, but that (lethal) exposure to −7.5 °C resulted in marked shrinkage of the axon, degeneration of mitochondria within the axoplasm, and extensive delamination of myelin sheaths of the surrounding Schwann cells. Accepted: 28 April 1999