Damage to myelin sheaths or to the cells from which they are produced leads to serious disorders such as multiple sclerosis.

‘Damage to myelin sheaths or to the cells from which they are produced leads to serious disorders such as MS. Such disorders finally lead to the nerve cells being destroyed.’

Complex mechanisms regulate myelin formation




The working group led by Prof. Dr. Michael Wegner, Chair of Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry at FAU, is researching how oligodendrocytes regulate the formation of their myelin sheaths. Neurological disorders such as MS can only be understood with this knowledge. The working group has already identified protein molecules such as ’Sox10’ that regulate the formation and preservation of myelin sheaths. The aim of the new project was to understand how the identified proteins with the regulating function in the oligodendrocytes interact when myelin is formed. The researchers discovered that other molecules called Nfat proteins are required for this interaction between the known molecules to be successful. These are mainly known for their function in the immune system. The presence of Nfat proteins in the oligodendrocytes ensures that all other required protein molecules can exist together in these cells without displacing each other.
Findings could help MS patients in the future
In their work, which has recently been published in the journal Nature Communications, Prof. Dr. Wegner’s working group led by Dr. Matthias Weider and Prof. Dr. Tanja Kuhlmann’s team from Universitätsklinikum Münster demonstrated the precise biochemical mechanisms involved. Inhibition of Nfat proteins adversely affects the capability of oligondendrocytes in rats, mice and also humans to form myelin. There are in fact fewer of these proteins in oligondendrocytes in parts of the brain affected by MS. However, it is still unclear whether this is one of the causes of the damage. ’The interrelationships are very complex’, emphasises Michael Wegner. This research project is very closely linked to research being carried out by scientists at the Faculty of Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine in an FAU research training group funded by the German Research Foundation called ’Neurodevelopment and vulnerability of the central nervous system’. The findings are not only relevant to basic research, but also to medicine. Targeted stimulation of Nfat proteins could perhaps be used in the future to promote the formation of new myelin sheaths in MS patients, for example after a relapse.
More substances need to be developed
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Source-Eurekalert