Myelination is a biosynthetically demanding process in which mTORC1, the gatekeeper of anabolism, occupies a privileged regulatory position. We have shown previously that loss of mTORC1 function in Schwann cells (SCs) hampers myelination. Here, we genetically disrupted key inhibitory components upstream of mTORC1, TSC1 or PTEN, in mouse SC development, adult homeostasis, and nerve injury. Surpr...

Myelination by oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system (CNS) is essential for proper brain function, yet the molecular determinants that control this process remain poorly understood. The basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors Olig1 and Olig2 promote myelination, whereas bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and Wnt/β-catenin signaling inhibit myelination. Here we show that these opposi...

Biomaterials cover and are an integral part of tissue engineering regenerative medicine fields. They crucial to mimic endogenous responses help eliminate high research costs ethical concerns that come with 2D systems animal models. In this study, we present a co-culturing system wherein neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) oligodendrocyte (MO3.13) cell lines grow within both caprolactone-based 3D elastomer ...

Regulation of myelination by oligodendrocytes in the CNS has important consequences for higher-order nervous system function (e.g., [1-4]), and there is growing consensus that neuronal activity regulates CNS myelination (e.g., [5-9]) through local axon-oligodendrocyte synaptic-vesicle-release-mediated signaling [10-12]. Recent analyses have indicated that myelination along axons of distinct neu...

PURPOSE In order to establish milestones of brain maturation by MR imaging, we examined the initiation of myelination of fiber bundles and of surrounding white matter. METHODS The subjects included 54 healthy infants ranging in age from 35 to 145 weeks by corrected gestational age. Images were obtained on a 1.5-T MR unit. In 24 sites of 18 fiber bundles in eight cross sections obtained perpen...

Astrocytes undergo major phenotypic changes in response to injury and disease that directly influence repair in the CNS, but the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. Previously, we have shown that neurosphere-derived rat astrocytes plated on poly-L-lysine (PLL-astrocytes) support myelination in dissociated rat spinal cord cultures (myelinating cultures). It is hypothesized that astrocyte ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE MR imaging is the method of choice for assessment in vivo of the development of myelination of the human central nervous system. During the first months of life, the myelination process follows well-defined steps, whereas little information exists about the later phases of myelination. To improve our understanding of this aspect and to identify the specific sites involved...

Transgenic mice, which express active Fyn tyrosine kinase under the control of a glial fibrillary acidic protein promoter, have been produced. This promoter induces protein expression in the initiation stage of myelination in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) "Phosphorylation of cytohesin-1 by Fyn is required for initiation of myelination and the extent of myelination during development (Yama...

Abnormal myelination underlies the pathology of white matter diseases such as preterm injury and multiple sclerosis. Osteopontin (OPN) has been suggested to play a role in myelination. Murine OPN mRNA is translated into secreted isoform (sOPN) or an intracellular (iOPN). Whether there isoform-specific involvement unknown. Here we generated mouse models that either lacked both isoforms all cells...

The timing and progression of axonal myelination are precisely controlled by intercellular interactions between neurons and glia in development. Previous in vitro studies demonstrated that Nectin like 4 (Necl-4, also known as cell adhesion molecule Cadm-4 or SynCAM-4) plays an essential role in axonal myelination by Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). However, the role of Necl...