News tagged with oligodendrocytes

Researchers at the doorstep of stem cell therapies for MS, other myelin disorders

When the era of regenerative medicine dawned more than three decades ago, the potential to replenish populations of cells destroyed by disease was seen by many as the next medical revolution. However, what followed turned ...

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created Oct 25, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Researchers create 'endless supply' of myelin-forming cells

(Medical Xpress)—In a new study appearing this month in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers have unlocked the complex cellular mechanics that instruct specific brain cells to continue to divide. This d ...

Neuroscience created Nov 01, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Multiple sclerosis: Damaged myelin not the trigger

Damaged myelin in the brain and spinal cord does not cause the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis (MS), neuroimmunologists from the University of Zurich have now demonstrated in collaboration with researchers from Berlin, ...

Neuroscience created Feb 27, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Brain electrical activity spurs insulation of brain's wiring

(Medical Xpress) -- Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered in mice a molecular trigger that initiates myelination, the process by which brain cell networks are reinforced with an ...

Medical research created Aug 11, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

New form of brain plasticity: Research shows how social isolation disrupts myelin production

Animals that are socially isolated for prolonged periods make less myelin in the region of the brain responsible for complex emotional and cognitive behavior, researchers at the University at Buffalo and Mt. Sinai School ...

Neuroscience created Nov 11, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

After brain injury, new astrocytes play unexpected role in healing

The production of a certain kind of brain cell that had been considered an impediment to healing may actually be needed to staunch bleeding and promote repair after a stroke or head trauma, researchers at ...

Medical research created Apr 24, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

A new program for neural stem cells

German researchers succeed in obtaining brain and spinal cord cells from stem cells of the peripheral nervous system.

Neuroscience created May 12, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Blocking protein expression delays onset of multiple sclerosis in mice, study says

(Medical Xpress)—Blocking the expression of just one protein in the brain delays the onset of paralysis in mice with a form of multiple sclerosis, say researchers at the School of Medicine.

Medical research created May 10, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Finding challenges accepted view of MS: Unexpectedly, damaged nerve fibers survive

(Medical Xpress)—Multiple sclerosis, a brain disease that affects over 400,000 Americans, causes movement difficulties and many neurologic symptoms. MS has two key elements: The nerves that direct muscular ...

Neuroscience created Feb 06, 2013 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Taking the fate of stem cells in hand: Researchers generate immature nerve cells

German biologists have deliberately transformed stem cells from the spinal cord of mice into immature nerve cells. This was achieved by changing the cellular environment, known as the extracellular matrix, ...

Medical research created Jun 28, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Oligodendrocyte

Oligodendrocytes (from Greek, meaning cells with a few branches), or oligodendroglia (Greek, few tree glue), are a type of brain cell. They are a variety of neuroglia. Their main function is the insulation of axons (the long projection of nerve cells) in the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) of some vertebrates. (The same function is performed by Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system). A single oligodendrocyte can extend its processes to 50 axons, wrapping around approximately 1 μm of myelin sheath around each axon; Schwann cells, on the other hand, can wrap around only 1 axon.

For more information about Oligodendrocyte, read the full article at Wikipedia.
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