• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Friday, June 20, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

Switch for the regeneration of nerve cell insulation

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
December 1, 2018
in Health
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
ADVERTISEMENT
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Disorders such as multiple sclerosis cause the insulation layer of neural pathways to degenerate. New findings might facilitate a novel approach for pharmacological therapy.

IMAGE

Credit: RUB, Kramer


An international research team has discovered a mechanism that regulates the regeneration of the insulating layer of neurites. This insulation coating, also referred to as myelin sheath, is crucial for rapid signal transmission among cells. Damages to the myelin sheath, such as are caused by multiple sclerosis, can considerably inhibit the function of the nervous system. In the journal “Glia”, the team headed by Dr. Annika Ulc, Dr. Simon van Leeuwen and Professor Andreas Faissner from Ruhr-Universität Bochum describes their findings together with colleagues from Edinburgh, Münster and Hanover. The article was published online on 18 November 2018.

“We hope we’ve identified a potential approach for accelerating myelin repair with pharmacological means,” says Andreas Faissner, Head of the Department of Cell Morphology and Molecular Neurobiology in Bochum.

Complex manufacturing mechanism

The myelin sheath is formed by specific cells, namely oligodendrocytes. “In order for the insulation layer to be generated, the cell shape and its membrane extensions require complex changes,” explains Faissner. In their current project, the research team analysed molecular switches that regulate the shape of the cell. To this end, the Bochum-based group collaborated with the Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh, the Institute of Neuropathology at the university clinic in Münster, and the Department of Cellular Neurophysiology at Hanover Medical School.

Slower regeneration without exchange factor Vav3

In their study, the researchers demonstrated the significance of the Vav3 signalling molecule. It regulates the activity of other molecules, which act as molecular switches by activating and deactivating certain signalling processes. The researchers showed that the activity of molecular switches was altered in oligodendrocytes that lack the Vav3 exchange factor. Moreover, they analysed in what way a missing Vav3 affected the regeneration of the myelin sheath in cultivated cells whose insulation layer had been damaged. The result: without Vav3, the new myelin layer formed more slowly than in cell cultures with Vav3. These findings were confirmed in experiments on mice that lacked Vav3 and that likewise presented slower myelin regeneration.

The signalling mechanisms of molecular switches of the RhoA type, which were under scrutiny here, have been fairly comprehensively investigated. “Combined with our understanding of how important the Vav3 exchange factor is, it might be possible in future to control the molecular switches in such a way as to accelerate the regeneration of the myelin sheath,” concludes Faissner.

###

Media Contact
Andreas Faissner
[email protected]
49-234-322-8851

Original Source

https://news.rub.de/english/press-releases/2018-11-30-neurobiology-switch-regeneration-nerve-cell-insulation

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/glia.23548

Tags: BiologyMolecular Biologyneurobiology
Share13Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Targeting Cell Death to Combat Early Liver Cancer

Targeting Cell Death to Combat Early Liver Cancer

June 19, 2025
blank

Butyrate Restores Sleep in Parkinson’s Mice via BDNF

June 19, 2025

Practical Hours-Based Scheduling in Neonatology Care

June 19, 2025

Tracing Strontium Exposure Near Oil Wells via Urine

June 19, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Green brake lights in the front could reduce accidents

    Study from TU Graz Reveals Front Brake Lights Could Drastically Diminish Road Accident Rates

    161 shares
    Share 64 Tweet 40
  • New Study Uncovers Unexpected Side Effects of High-Dose Radiation Therapy

    76 shares
    Share 30 Tweet 19
  • Pancreatic Cancer Vaccines Eradicate Disease in Preclinical Studies

    71 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18
  • How Scientists Unraveled the Mystery Behind the Gigantic Size of Extinct Ground Sloths—and What Led to Their Demise

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Terahertz Spectroscopy Maps Buried PN Junction Depths

Revolutionizing Rehabilitation: Virtual Reality Offers New Hope for Stroke Survivors to Recover Movement

Innovative Nanoparticles Enable Safer, More Efficient Drug Delivery

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.