Critical for Coating: Protein directs nerve-sheath construction
By Nathan Seppa
Just as plastic coatings insulate electrical wires, myelin sheaths surround nerve fibers in the body. In addition to protecting the fibers, these fatty sheaths speed up the message-carrying impulses and keep extraneous signals from interfering with impulses traveling along the fibers. Although scientists have known about myelin for several centuries, mystery has shrouded the delicate interplay between nerve cells and the glial cells that produce it.
In the Sept. 1 Neuron, scientists demonstrate that the protein neuregulin-1 type III (NRG1-III), which is produced by nerve cells, is essential to triggering glial cells to make myelin. This advance could lead researchers to develop more-effective treatments for several neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS), which is caused by a misguided immune system assault on myelin, says study coauthor James L. Salzer, a neuroscientist at New York University School of Medicine.