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The myelin sheath is not continuous but is segmented along the axon's length at gaps known as the nodes of Ranvier. In the peripheral nervous system the myelination of axons is carried out by Schwann cells. [1] Oligodendrocytes are found exclusively in the CNS, which comprises the brain and spinal cord.
In the PNS, myelin protein zero (MPZ or P0) has a similar role to that of PLP in the CNS in that it is involved in holding together the multiple concentric layers of glial cell membrane that constitute the myelin sheath. The primary lipid of myelin is a glycolipid called galactocerebroside. The intertwining hydrocarbon chains of sphingomyelin ...
When a nerve axon is severed, the end still attached to the cell body is labeled the proximal segment, while the other end is called the distal segment. After injury, the proximal end swells and experiences some retrograde degeneration, but once the debris is cleared, it begins to sprout axons and the presence of growth cones can be detected.
Schwann cells are a variety of glial cells that keep peripheral nerve fibres (both myelinated and unmyelinated) alive. In myelinated axons, Schwann cells form the myelin sheath. The sheath is not continuous. Individual myelinating Schwann cells cover about 1 mm of an axon [3] – equating to about 1000 Schwann cells along a 1-m length of the axon.
Myelin is formed by oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system and Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system.Therefore, the first stage of myelinogenesis is often defined as the differentiation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) or Schwann cell progenitors into their mature counterparts, [4] followed by myelin formation around axons.
The myelin sheath insulates the nerve fiber from the extracellular fluid and speeds up signal conduction along the nerve fiber. [34] In the peripheral nervous system, Schwann cells are responsible for myelin production. These cells envelop nerve fibers of the PNS by winding repeatedly around them. This process creates a myelin sheath, which not ...
Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), also known as oligodendrocyte precursor cells, NG2-glia, O2A cells, or polydendrocytes, are a subtype of glia in the central nervous system named for their essential role as precursors to oligodendrocytes and myelin. [1] They are typically identified in the human by co-expression of PDGFRA and CSPG4.
The most notable evidence that remyelination has taken place on an axon is its thin myelin sheath created by an oligodendrocyte, though the reason why the new myelin sheath is thinner remains unclear. This can be quantified in the g-ratio, the ratio between the diameter of the axon itself to the outer diameter of the myelinated fiber.