Stimulation of nodal and terminal sprouting of mouse motor nerves by gangliosides.

Treatment of mice with daily intraperitoneal gangliosides (50 mg/kg) enhanced both the number and mean length of nodal sprouts 4 days after partial denervation of the gluteus maximus muscle. Terminal sprouting in the soleus muscle 14 days after botulinum toxin paralysis was also enhanced by gangliosides, as assessed by zinc iodide-osmium tetroxide staining. Functional recovery from paralysis, assessed electrophysiologically, was simultaneously accelerated; this may have resulted from the enlarged terminal area, rather than reflecting an additional action of gangliosides upon synaptogenesis.