Myelin News and Research

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Myelin is the fatty substance that covers and protects nerves.

Unveiling the Evolutionary Origins of Bilaterian Species

700 million years ago, a remarkable creature emerged for the first time. Though it may not have been much to look at by today's standards, the animal had a front and a back, a top and a bottom.

16 Apr 2024

Decoding the Dynamics of Multiple Sclerosis Lesions

Scientists in Sweden were able to uncover the molecular mechanisms behind the development of lesions in multiple sclerosis by employing sophisticated techniques. The latest findings are detailed in the journal Cell by a team of researchers from Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University.

21 Mar 2024

The Role of Ancient Retroviruses in Vertebrate Brain Evolution

According to a study published in the journal Cell, ancient viruses may have contributed to the development of myelin and, consequently, the large, complex brains.

16 Feb 2024

APOE4's Influence on Lipid Droplets in Brain Cells

The largest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease is apolipoprotein E (APOE), and researchers Sarah Cohen, PhD, and Ian Windham, a former PhD student from the Cohen group, have made a novel discovery about this protein.

12 Feb 2024

Aging Disrupts Gene Expression in Specific Regions of the Brain

Most of us who've reached middle age have noticed a slowing in memory and cognition, but scientists don't have a clear picture of the molecular changes that take place in the brain to cause it.

18 Aug 2023

Common Epstein-Barr virus may be a trigger for multiple sclerosis

In 1868, French physician Jean-Martin Charcot, known as the founder of modern neurology, defined a disease entity in which multiple plaques formed in the brain and spinal cord, with varying physical symptoms, called Sclérose en plaques, or in English as multiple sclerosis (MS).

24 Mar 2023

ApoE4 from neurons plays a critical role in Alzheimer's disease

Of all the known genetic risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer's disease, the strongest is a gene for the protein called ApoE4.

22 Feb 2023

Regeneration of the immune system in MS patients

Transplanting blood stem cells is a new but incredibly successful treatment for multiple sclerosis. Now, a study directed by the University of Zurich has looked closely at how the autoimmune disease is controlled by the treatment and how the immune system recovers afterward.

14 Nov 2022

Researchers understand how Tenascin proteins slowed down the regeneration process

Tenascin C and Tenascin R, are two proteins that have been the topic of investigation at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Myelin sheaths, or the sheaths of the nerve cells, are destroyed by immune system cells in this condition.

20 Jun 2022

Insight into oligodendrocyte cells could lead to new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases

New research may help scientists locate immature cells in the central nervous system that could shed light on the causes of neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis-;and autoimmune disease that affects the brain and nervous system-;and allow for the development of better therapeutic treatments.

14 Mar 2022

Researchers develop enhanced version of microscope that produce high-throughput 3D adaptive optical imaging

Microscopes are chosen to be a helpful tool in biomedical research as they permit for close inspection and visualization of tissues.

15 Feb 2022

Oligodendrocyte plays major role in the development of multiple sclerosis, says study

A team of international researchers revealed that oligodendrocytes, a kind of central nervous system cell, may play a different function in the progression of MS.

2 Feb 2022

Discovery may offer a promising new path for the study of multiple sclerosis

A surprising discovery may offer a promising new direction in the study of multiple sclerosis and other diseases of hypomyelination – when axons of neurons are not covered sufficiently in fatty sheaths (myelin), which disrupts communication between nerve cells.

23 Sep 2021

Restoring cholesterol levels could be a new therapeutic approach for neurodegenerative diseases

Scientists have found that the brain lacks the ability to maintain the cholesterol-rich myelin sheath that insulates neurons when a protein is absent.

From National University of Singapore (NUS) 10 Aug 2021

Study reveals key molecule involved in myelin repair

New research works indicate that new brain cells are continuously formed in response to physical exercise, injury, and mental stimulation.

9 Jun 2021

Biochemist discovers hidden cellular machinery essential for higher-order life

In his first year of graduate school, Rice University biochemist Zachary Wright discovered something hidden inside a common piece of cellular machinery that's essential for all higher order life from yeast to humans.

7 Dec 2020

Study elucidates the active role of glial cells in the nervous system

For the brain to work efficiently, it is important that a nerve impulse arrives at its destination as quickly and as precisely as possible. It has been long been known that the nerve fibres - also known as axons - pass on these impulses.

9 Sep 2020

Cashew shell compound shows therapeutic potential for demyelinating diseases

In laboratory experiments, a chemical compound found in the shell of the cashew nut promotes the repair of myelin, a team from Vanderbilt University Medical Center reports today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

From Vanderbilt University 19 Aug 2020

TMEM106B gene reveals the causes of neurodegenerative diseases

Across the globe, approximately 50 million people are living with dementia. The two most common forms are Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), which develop when neurons in specific parts of the brain stop functioning - triggering memory loss and other behavioral or personality changes.

10 Jul 2020

CU scientists identify key role of brain's immune cells during development

Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have identified how specific brain cells interacting during development could be related to neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases, including some that occur later in life.

10 Jul 2020