Myelination and the trophic support of long axons.
In addition to their role in providing myelin for rapid impulse propagation, the glia that ensheath long axons are required for the maintenance of normal axon transport and long-term survival. This presumably ancestral function seems to be independent of myelin membrane wrapping. Here, I propose that ensheathing glia provide trophic support to axons that are metabolically isolated, and that myelin itself might cause such isolation. This glial support of axonal integrity may be relevant for a number of neurological and psychiatric diseases.
Nave
Klaus-Armin
KA
Klaus-Armin Nave is at the Department of Neurogenetics, Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, Herrmann-Rein-Strasse 3, D-37075 Goettingen, Germany. nave@em.mpg.de
D000818:Animals; D001370:Axonal Transport / Q000502:physiology; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology*; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000502:physiology*; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000502:physiology*