title: Cholinergic signaling in myelination.
abstract: There is a long history of research on acetylcholine (ACh) function in myelinating glia, but a resurgence of interest recently as a result of the therapeutic potential of manipulating ACh signaling to promote remyelination, and the broader interest in neurotransmitter signaling in activity-dependent myelination. Myelinating glia express all the major types of muscarinic and nicotinic ACh receptors at different stages of development, and acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase are highly expressed in white matter. This review traces the history of research on ACh signaling in Schwann cells, oligodendrocytes, and in the myelin sheath, and summarizes current knowledge on the intracellular signaling and functional consequences of ACh signaling in myelinating glia. Implications of ACh in diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, and white matter toxicity caused by pesticides are considered, together with an outline of major questions for future research. GLIA 2017;65:687-698.
authors.affiliation: Nervous System Development and Plasticity Section, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: R Douglas
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Fields
authors.affiliation: Nervous System Development and Plasticity Section, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland.|Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Dipankar J
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0763-8897
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Dutta
authors.affiliation: Nervous System Development and Plasticity Section, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Jillian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Belgrad
authors.affiliation: Nervous System Development and Plasticity Section, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Robnett
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018678:Cholinergic Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000378:metabolism*; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000378:metabolism*; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018678:Cholinergic Agents
keywords: acetylcholine (ACh); acetylcholinesterase (AChE); butyrylcholinesterase (BChE); muscarinic receptors; nicotinic receptors; organophosphates