Regulation of myelin structure and conduction velocity by perinodal astrocytes
Abstract
Proper communication between brain regions, via white matter tracts, allows us to carry out complex cognitive and motor tasks. Impulses traveling must arrive at relay points almost simultaneously for such communication to be effective. Myelin enables saltatory conduction of impulses and hence is a candidate for modulation of impulse conduction velocity. But myelin structure, once formed, has been considered static. In this study, we show that mature myelin structure is dynamic. The mature myelin sheath thickness and nodal gap length can be reversibly modulated to optimize the speed of axonal impulses. This modulation of myelin is regulated by exocytosis of thrombin protease inhibitors from astrocytes at the node of Ranvier.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Oct 29, 2018
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1811013115
Entities
People
- Dipankar J. Dutta
- Dong Ho Woo
- Hiroaki Wake
- Jeffrey C. Smith
- Olena Bukalo
- Peter J Basser
- Philip R. Lee
- R. Douglas Fields
- Shahriar SheikhBahaei
- Sinisa Pajevic
- Vanja Lazarevic
- William C. Huffman
Organizations
- Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine
- National Cancer Institute
- National Institutes of Health