Multiple Sclerosis: In The War Against Diseases, Nerve Cells Need Their Armor Nov 15, 2008
The paranodal junction is a highly specialized region of contact where an oligodendrocyte cell attaches itself to the nerve cell's axon. This juncture acts as a molecular fence, which organizes and segregates the distribution of key proteins along the nerve cells axon and plays an imperative role in the proper conduction of electrical signals along the length of the nerve cell. (Science Daily)
Statins May Spur Dementia Jul 25, 2008
Experimentation with cultures of human brain cells revealed that under the influence of statin drugs, the glial progenitor cells turned mostly into a type of cell called an oligodendrocyte. The bottom line is that statins push progenitor cells into developing into a type of cell which the brain may not need, and it may push the progenitor cells to develop prematurely when they should in fact be held in reserve in case of trauma such as a blow to the head, a stroke, or inflammation within the... (Newsmax)
Statins have unexpected effect on pool of powerful brain cells Jul 3, 2008
" The team measured the effects of two widely used statins, simvastatin and pravastatin, on glial progenitor cells, which can become either astrocytes or oligodendrocytes. The team looked at progenitor cells from 16 patients who had brain tissue removed during surgery to treat epilepsy, tumors, or vascular problems. Scientists found that both compounds, when used at doses that mimic those that patients take, spur glial progenitor cells to develop into oligodendrocytes. For example, in one... (EurekAlert!)
Brain damage link to cancer drug Apr 23, 2008
The latest study found 5-FU attacks oligodendrocyte cells in the brain and the precursor stem cells from which they originate ... The researchers showed that oligodendrocytes virtually disappeared from the brains of mice six months after the animals were treated with 5-FU.. (BBC News -- Health)
Effort To Develop Patient-specific Stem Cell Lines Launched May 16, 2007
That type of cell, an oligodendrocyte, insulates connections in the spinal cord, allowing them to conduct electricity. Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University of California - Irvine. (Science Daily)
Brain's White Matter: More 'Talkative' Than Once Thought May 9, 2007
The discovery focuses on oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), whose main role when they mature into oligodendrocytes is to wrap themselves around and insulate nerves with a whitish coat of protective myelin. The immature cells simply hang around and divide very slowly, waiting to be spurred into action. (Science Daily)
$7.9 million awarded to UCI stem cell scientists UCI, Mar. 16 Mar 17, 2007
That type of cell, an oligodendrocyte, insulates connections in the spinal cord, allowing them to conduct electricity. Donovan, professor of biological chemistry and of developmental and cell biology, was awarded $2. (University of California Newswire, CA)
Hormonal Surge During Pregnancy Repairs Faulty Brain Signaling Feb 27, 2007
The researchers found that there were twice as many oligodendrocytes (nerve cells that produce myelin) in the brains of pregnant mice and, also, that the mice continued to produce oligodendrocytes throughout their pregnancies, leading to 50 percent more myelin sheathing in their nerve cells than in those of their virgin counterparts ... The reason, say researchers: the hormone stimulates production of more oligodendrocyte stem cells, leading to more oligodendrocytes and therefore more myelin. (Scientific American)
Pregnancy Hormone Repairs MS-type Neural Damage Feb 22, 2007
Prolactin is produced in the anterior pituitary by oligodendrocytes, and is present at varying levels in both men and women ... "Thus, we hypothesized that pregnancy promotes increases in oligodendrocyte precursor cell proliferation, which bestows an enhanced capacity to generate oligodendrocytes and regenerate myelin in the maternal CNS." ... To test their hypothesis, they determined that increased oligodendrocyte and precursor cell proliferation occurs during pregnancy in mice, and then looked... (MedPage Today)
Gene That Grows Brain Also Grows Tumors Feb 16, 2007
"It turns out that the way people are starting to think about brain cancer and other solid tumors [like breast cancer and prostate cancer] in general is that they may be actually 'developmentally stalled' stem cells," says study co-author Charles Stiles, a Dana-Farber cancer biologist, "not normal stem cells, [but] mutated stemlike cells that are developmentally arrested, sort of halfway en route to making a perfectly good neuron, oligodendrocyte or whatever." Olig2 codes for a transcriptional... (Scientific American)
Antimyelin Antibodies with No Progression to Multiple Sclerosis Jan 25, 2007
To the Editor: The presence of antibodies against myelin, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG), and myelin basic protein (MBP) in serum from patients with a clinically isolated syndrome and multiple lesions detected on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been associated with the more rapid development of a second neurologic event and conversion to clinically definite multiple sclerosis. However, there is controversy concerning this issue. (New England Journal of Medicine)
Lack of Association between Antimyelin Antibodies and Progression to Multiple Sclerosis Jan 25, 2007
An increased risk of progression to clinically definite multiple sclerosis in patients with serum antibodies against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) and myelin basic protein (MBP) has been reported. Methods We measured serum anti-MOG and anti-MBP IgG and IgM antibodies in 462 patients with a first clinical event suggestive of multiple sclerosis and at least two clinically silent lesions on brain MRI. The patients were participating in a multicenter trial of treatment with interferon... (New England Journal of Medicine)
