Oligodendrocyte Dynamics in the Healthy Adult CNS: Evidence for Myelin Remodeling

By K. Young, K. Psachoulia, Richa Tripathi, S. Dunn, L. Cossell, David Attwell, K. Tohyama, W. Richardson. Neuron, 2013

821 citations recorded by the source corpus.

SUMMARY Oligodendrocyte precursors (OPs) continue to proliferate and generate myelinating oligodendrocytes (OLs) well into adulthood. It is not known whether adult-born OLs ensheath previously unmyelinated axons or remodel existing myelin. We quantified OP division and OL production in different regions of the adult mouse CNS including the 4-month-old optic nerve, in which practically all axons are already myelinated. Even there, all OPs were dividing and generating new OLs and myelin at a rate higher than can be explained by first-time myelination of naked axons. We conclude that adult-born OLs in the optic nerve are engaged in myelin remodeling, either replacing OLs that die in service or intercalating among existing myelin sheaths. The latter would predict that average internode length should decrease with age. Consistent with that, we found that adult-born OLs elaborated much shorter but many more internodes than OLs generated during early postnatal life.

Subfields: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Developmental Neuroscience, Neurology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/af9809505d646ab09a4799f8fffb5f4165debd4f

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

1. M. Simons
2. K. Nave

In Developmental Neuroscience

1. M. Simons
2. K. Nave

In Neurology

1. M. Simons
2. K. Nave

Citations in the corpus

• Oligodendrocytes: Myelination and Axonal Support. (2015, background): “Over the past, it has become clear that myelin can undergo significant structural changes in adulthood (Young et al. 2013).”
• Neuronal activity-dependent control of postnatal neurogenesis and gliogenesis (2018, neutral): “OPC proliferation results in self-renewal as well as new progeny giving rise to myelinating oligodendrocytes (Young et al. 2013).”