Source MS Society: Researchers at the MS Society Edinburgh Centre for MS Research have found that extra myelin can be sent to the wrong part of the nerve – an important insight for MS treatments.
Source MS Society: Researchers at the MS Society Edinburgh Centre for MS Research have found that extra myelin can be sent to the wrong part of the nerve – an important insight for MS treatments.
Professor David Lyons and his team looked at what happens in zebrafish and mice when myelin making cells (known as oligodendrocytes) make more myelin than the nerve fibres need.
Too much of a good thing?
Professor Lyons, MS researcher at the University of Edinburgh and lead author, said: “We were surprised to find that when more oligodendrocytes and myelin were present than the nerve fibre needed, the excess myelin was sent to the wrong part of the nerve.”
It’s important to consider where extra myelin ends up because treatments for MS often involve increasing myelin production to repair damage done to nerve fibres. Read on.
