| Axon (61) |  |
| Myelin (50) | |
It is hoped that the cells will lay down sheaths of myelin an insulator essential for conducting nerve impulses around injured neurons,
which are cells that form the electrically insulating myelin sheath around the nerve cells. The new knowledge the project has generated can shed more light on diseases that affect the myelin
such as multiple sclerosis (MS). e could also confirm previous findings, such as that the pyramidal cells of the cerebral cortex are organised functionally in layers,
The work was led by scientists at UB Hunter James Kelly Research Institute (HJKRI) who conduct research to better understand myelin,
The researchers study how damage to myelin occurs and how that damage may be repaired. The institute, part of UB New york state Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life sciences, was established in 1997 by Buffalo bills Hall of fame quarterback Jim Kelly
He died in 2005 at the age of 8. The researchers explained that cellular interactions that trigger the production of myelin are especially hard to pinpoint.
explained M. Laura Feltri, M d.,senior author on the paper and an HJKRI researcher and professor of biochemistry and neurology in the Jacobs School of medicine and Biomedical sciences at UB. o study myelin,
she added. n Krabbe, for example, the problem is not just that there isn sufficient myelin,
are necessary for the production of myelin. The discovery will help improve the understanding of and development of new treatments for myelin diseases.
It also will make it easier to study all kinds of cellular interactions not just those in the brain. sing this method,
Feltri explained. t provides a glimpse into the social life of cells. his work has important implications for diseases of myelin such as Krabbe disease,
New Technique to Better Understand Myelination Since the early part of the 20th century, scientists have been trying to better understand the intricacies surrounding neuronal development.
The cellular interactions that trigger the production of myelin are especially hard to pinpoint since the point of contact is buried essentially between the intertwined myelin layers and neuronal plasma membrane."
"Myelin is made by a glial cell wrapping around an axon cell, "explained senior author M. Laura Feltri, M d.,professor of biochemistry and neurology in the Jacobs School of medicine and Biomedical sciences at UB."
"To study myelin, you really need to study both cells. The glial cell wraps like a spiral around the axon, so every time you try to study the region of contact between the two cells,
you end up studying the whole combination. It's very hard to look just at the interface."
"In Krabbe's, for example, the problem is not just that there isn't sufficient myelin,
The findings from this study were published recently in Nature Communications through an article entitled patial mapping of juxtacrine axo-glial interactions identifies novel molecules in peripheral myelination.
are necessary for the production of myelin.""Using this method, we can isolate the portion of a cell that comes in contact with another cell,
kick-starting a chain reaction that resulted in inflammation and myelin damage. Myelin is the protective sheath that insulates nerve fibers in the brain,
and it is the primary site of injury in MS. What more, the scientists were able to pinpoint a specific protein in the blood, the blood-clotting factor fibrinogen,
When these peripheral immune cellsacrophages and T cellsntered the brain, they attacked myelin. ur results provide the first evidence that blood promotes T cell responses against the brain,
which is sufficient to cause myelin destruction, we also identified fibrinogen as the critical protein driving this process.
stopping the microglia from signaling to the peripheral immune cells and averting myelin damage and inflammation.
kick-starting a chain reaction that resulted in inflammation and myelin damage. Myelin is the protective sheath that insulates nerve fibers in the brain
and it is the primary site of injury in MS. Image is for illustrative purposes only. hese findings question a long-held paradigm that myelin-specific T cells initiate inflammation in the brain through activation of microglia
and brain macrophages, says Scott Zamvil, MD, Phd, a professor of neurology at the University of California,
and results from aberrant immune cells destroying the protective coating, called myelin, around nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.
Without myelin, neural signals cannot be transmitted properly along nerves; over time, a patient's ability to walk, hold a cup
Current multiple sclerosis therapies aim to slow further myelin destruction by the immune system, but the Case Western Reserve team used a new approach to create new myelin within the nervous system.
Their work offers great promise of developing therapies that reverse disabilities caused by multiple sclerosis or similar neurological disorders."
and direct them to form new myelin. Our ultimate goal was to enhance the body's ability to repair itself."
both drugs prompted native OPCS to regenerate new myelin.""It was a striking reversal of disease severity in the mice,
a number of other disorders involve myelin loss or dysfunction including cerebral palsy, age-related dementia, optic neuritis and schizophrenia.
Any drugs developed that enhance myelination in multiple sclerosis also hold promise for benefiting these other disorders."
"The approach from Case Western Reserve University combines cutting-edge stem cell and drug screening technologies to develop new chemical therapeutics for myelin disorders,
which the immune system attacks the protective myelin sheath, a type of insulation that covers nerves, ultimately disrupting communication between the brain and the body and leading to nerve deterioration.
which create the myelin sheath. These two drugs, miconazole and clobetasol, were found to treat the source of the problem by reversing this process,
researchers discovered the therapeutic compounds for enhancing myelination from oligodendrocyte progenitor cells through screening a library of bioactive small molecules.
and clobetasol could promote myelination. Miconazole was found to function directly as a remyelinating drug with no effect on the immune system,
and direct them to form new myelin. Our ultimate goal was to enhance the body's ability to repair itself.""
MS is a condition of the central nervous system in which myelin, the coating around nerves, is damaged causing vision problems, stiffness, spasms and other symptoms.
but the Hopkins team focused on brain cancer cellslack of myelin sheaths as the marker that influences how light passes through them.
and sphingomyelin and that play important roles in membrane signaling and protein trafficking. urata told us it would be a real breakthrough
if we could eethe distribution of sphingomyelin in the raft structure, Sodeoka says. But this required overcoming two major challenges.
the researchers observed a gradually varying distribution of sphingomyelin in ordered rafts. any people assumed that ordered and disordered domains in lipid rafts were separated clearly,
Eventually, the researchers figured out that a second special property of brain cancer cells that they lack the so-called myelin sheaths that coat healthy brain cells had a greater effect on the OCT readings than did density.
Brain cancer cells also lack the myelin sheaths that coat healthy brain cells, a factor that has even greater effect on OCT readings than cell density,
They attack the brain by destroying the myelin sheath that protects neurons, resulting in decreased transmission of nerve impulses,
Eventually, the researchers figured out that a second special property of brain cancer cells that they lack the so-called myelin sheaths that coat healthy brain cells had a greater effect on the OCT readings than did density.
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