title: Glia Disease and Repair-Remyelination.
abstract: The inability of the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) to undergo spontaneous regeneration has long been regarded as a central tenet of neurobiology. However, although this is largely true of the neuronal elements of the adult mammalian CNS, save for discrete populations of granular neurons, the same is not true of its glial elements. In particular, the loss of oligodendrocytes, which results in demyelination, triggers a spontaneous and often highly efficient regenerative response, remyelination, in which new oligodendrocytes are generated and myelin sheaths are restored to denuded axons. Yet, remyelination in humans is not without limitation, and a variety of demyelinating conditions are associated with sustained and disabling myelin loss. In this review, we will review the biology of remyelination, including the cells and signals involved; describe when remyelination occurs and when and why it fails and the consequences of its failure; and discuss approaches for therapeutically enhancing remyelination in demyelinating diseases of both children and adults, both by stimulating endogenous oligodendrocyte progenitor cells and by transplanting these cells into demyelinated brain.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust-Medical Research Council Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0ES, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Robin J M
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Franklin
authors.affiliation: Center for Translational Neuromedicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York 14642 University of Copenhagen Faculty of Medicine, Copenhagen 2200, Denmark.
authors.forename: Steven A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Goldman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000378:metabolism*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000637:transplantation; D015398:Signal Transduction; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation