Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Newest Articles
    • Current Issue
    • Archive
    • Subject Collections
    • Special Collections
  • Reviews & Opinions
    • Editorials
    • People & Ideas
    • Spotlights
    • Viewpoints
    • Inside Look
    • Reviews
    • biosights podcast
  • Alerts
  • About
    • History
    • Editors & Staff
    • Journal Metrics
    • Permissions & Licensing
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
  • Submit
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Instructions for Authors
    • Publication Fees
    • Author Services
  • Subscriptions
  • Rockefeller University Press
  • JCB
  • JEM
  • JGP
  • LSA

User menu

  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
JCB
  • Rockefeller University Press
  • JCB
  • JEM
  • JGP
  • LSA
  • Log in
JCB

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Newest Articles
    • Current Issue
    • Archive
    • Subject Collections
    • Special Collections
  • Reviews & Opinions
    • Editorials
    • People & Ideas
    • Spotlights
    • Viewpoints
    • Inside Look
    • Reviews
    • biosights podcast
  • Alerts
  • About
    • History
    • Editors & Staff
    • Journal Metrics
    • Permissions & Licensing
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
  • Submit
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Instructions for Authors
    • Publication Fees
    • Author Services
  • Subscriptions

You are here

jcb Home » 2003 Archive » 6 January » 160 (1): 9.2
Research Roundup

A trigger for myelination

William A. Wells
William A. Wells
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
DOI: 10.1083/jcb1601rr5 | Published December 30, 2002
  • Article
  • Info
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading


Embedded Image

Oligodendrocytes (arrows) are activated by signals from active neurons (center).

Fields/Elsevier

Some cells can induce the production of their own protective blanket. The signal comes from active neurons in the central nervous system (CNS), and triggers the differentiation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs)—thus yielding the cells that cover the neurons with a protective sheath of myelin. Now, Beth Stevens, Douglas Fields, and colleagues (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD) have shown that the neurons accomplish this task by releasing a simple metabolite, adenosine.

The finding could be critical for possible stem cell treatments for the myelinating disease multiple sclerosis. “The problem [with stem cell treatments] is not getting the stem cells; the problem is getting the cells to differentiate at the right stage,” says Fields. Adenosine looks like a promising stop signal for OPCs. And, as a further enticement, Fields showed that a brief exposure to adenosine might be enough to set cells on the right path.

Fields added a wide variety of biomolecules to OPCs and found that adenosine alone could reduce proliferation and induce everything from differentiation markers to a differentiated morphology and myelination. Adenosine receptor antagonists, meanwhile, prevented the changes in OPC proliferation and morphology normally caused by active neurons.

These results contrasted with the group's earlier findings with Schwann cells, which provide myelination for the peripheral nervous system (PNS). For Schwann cells it is ATP that is active but with an opposite effect: the ATP arrests maturation. This may give the PNS axons time to mature before they are surrounded by myelin.

The regulation of the two systems will take some time to decipher. ATP and adenosine not only have different effects on OPCs and Schwann cells, but one metabolite can be converted to the other via extracellular enzymes. Fields thinks the decoding effort will be worthwhile. “As neuroscientists we are all focused on rapid communication,” he says, “but all cells communicate, and this is one of the most ancient systems.” ▪

Reference:

Stevens, B., et al. 2002. Neuron. 36:855–868.
OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed

© 2003 Rockefeller University Press
Previous articleNext article
Back to top
Download PDF
Citation Tools
A trigger for myelination
William A. Wells
The Journal of Cell Biology Jan 2003, 160 (1) 9; DOI: 10.1083/jcb1601rr5

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address

Email logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo Reddit logo CiteULike logo LinkedIn logo
The Journal of Cell Biology: 218 (12)

Current Issue

December 2, 2019
Volume 218, No. 12

  • Table of Contents
  • All Issues

Jump To

  • Article
  • Info
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
 

ARTICLES

  • Current Issue
  • Newest Articles
  • Archive
  • Alerts
  • RSS feeds

FOR AUTHORS

  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Instructions for Authors

ABOUT

  • About JCB
  • Editors & Staff
  • Permissions & Licensing
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Feedback
  • Newsroom
  • Privacy Policy

CONNECT WITH JCB

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • RSS
  • Instagram

Online ISSN: 1540-8140
Print ISSN: 0021-9525

Copyright © 2019 JCB by Rockefeller University Press