The main components of the peripheral nervous system are the nerves, ganglia, and nerve endings. Nerves are bundles of nerve fibers surrounded by connective tissue sheaths.
Nerve Fibers
Nerve fibers consist of axons enveloped by a special sheath derived from cells of ectodermal origin. Groups of nerve fibers constitute the tracts of the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves.
Myelinated Fibers
In myelinated fibers of the peripheral nervous system, the plasmalemma of the covering Schwann cell winds and wraps around the axon . The layers of membranes of the sheath cell unite and form myelin. Myelin consists of many layers of modified cell membranes. These membranes have a higher proportion of lipids than do other cell membranes. The myelin sheath shows gaps along its path called the nodes of Ranvier; these represent the spaces between adjacent Schwann cells along the length of the axon. Interdigitating processes of Schwann cells partially cover the node. The distance between two nodes is called an internode and consists of one Schwann cell. The length of the internode varies between 1 and 2 mm. There are no Schwann cells in the central nervous system; there, the processes of the oligodendrocytes form the myelin sheath. Oligodendrocytes differ from Schwann cells in that different branches of one cell can envelop segments of several axons .
Unmyelinated Fibers
In both the central and peripheral nervous systems, not all axons are sheathed in myelin. In the peripheral system, all unmyelinated axons are enveloped within simple clefts of the Schwann cells. Unlike their association with individual myelinated axons, each Schwann cell can sheathe many unmyelinated axons. Unmyelinated nerve fibers do not have nodes of Ranvier, because abutting Schwann cells are united to form a continuous sheath.
Peripheral Nervous System-Histology of Nervous System