A better understanding of theprocesses behind a continual and healthy renewal of myelin — the fatty,
protective substance wrapping nerve cell fibers — may now exist. Researchers
identified an enzyme, called PRMT5, that they believe regulates the number of
myelin-producing cells in the brain and spinal cord. Their discovery may also
open new ways
Led by researchers at the Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC) at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), the study “PRMT5-mediated regulation of developmental myelination” was published in the journal Nature Communications.
Nerve cells communicate with each other via electrical impulses, transmitting messages from the brain to the rest of the body and vice-versa. To do so, they need the myelin sheath that surrounds their fibers (axons) to protect them from damage and to allow a healthy flow of electrical pulses.
Oligodendrocytes are the cells responsible for producing myelin in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). Because of this crucial role, their number and activity are tightly regulated.
Previous studies demonstrated that the PRMT5 enzyme is present in the brain and enriched in oligodendrocytes and their progenitor cells — cells in an early and immature state that have yet to specialize. But PRMT5’s role in these cells was unclear.
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