What are the consequences of destruction of oligodendrocytes?

Thus, neurotransmitter receptors play an important role in the normal life of oligodendrocytes. Furthermore, if oligodendrocytes become damaged and the myelin sheath is destroyed, the action potential is reduced in velocity or ceases altogether, leading to physical or mental disability.

What is the function of oligodendrocyte cells?

Oligodendrocytes are the myelinating cells of the central nervous system (CNS). They are the end product of a cell lineage which has to undergo a complex and precisely timed program of proliferation, migration, differentiation, and myelination to finally produce the insulating sheath of axons.

What happens to oligodendrocytes in MS?

What happens to oligodendrocytes in MS? In MS, the body’s own immune system thinks the oligodendrocytes are infections and attacks them and their myelin. This means the nerve cells are exposed to damage, and the messages can’t get through as efficiently, or may not get through at all.

What is the meaning of oligodendrocyte?

Listen to pronunciation. (AH-lih-goh-DEN-droh-site) A cell that forms the myelin sheath (a layer that covers and protects nerve cells) in the brain and spinal cord. An oligodendrocyte is a type of glial cell.

When are oligodendrocytes destroyed?

With time, however, even the surviving oligodendrocytes are destroyed by the recurrent immune attacks. These cells may also die by programmed cell death since they are terminally differentiated and normally excluded from the process of remyelination [47].

What disease affects oligodendrocytes?

Diseases affecting oligodendrocytes include those with genetic mutations, such as Pelizaeus–Merzbacher disease; immune-mediated diseases, such as multiple sclerosis; acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis; postinfectious encephalomyelitis; and viral infections, such as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.

Where is the oligodendrocyte located?

the central nervous system
oligodendrocyte, a type of neuroglia found in the central nervous system of invertebrates and vertebrates that functions to produce myelin, an insulating sheath on the axons of nerve fibres.

Why do oligodendrocytes inhibit nerve growth?

Oligodendrocytes express neurite growth inhibitory proteins, including the membrane protein Nogo-A, on their cell surface and CNS myelin. These proteins inhibit branch formation along the mature axon in white matter, but they also impair compensatory and regenerative fiber growth following axonal injury.

Does multiple sclerosis affect Schwann cells or oligodendrocytes?

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is thought to be an immune-mediated disease, most likely auto-immune, in which the immune system attacks the oligodendrocytes, causing damage to the myelin sheath.

What does the oligodendrocyte look like?

The cell has a rounded, dark nucleus with clumped chromatin. The cytoplasm is also electron dense and contains short cisternae of rough endoplasmic reticulum with numerous short mitochondria. It is common for these cells to have some dark inclusions in their cytoplasm.

Can oligodendrocytes be repaired?

As a result, cell replacement therapy (CRT) offers an encouraging means of restoring oligodendrocyte and progenitor populations to improve remyelination (Figure 3). Both neural and non-neural cells have been used in CRT, though we will be focusing on neural cells and their potential to directly restore myelin.

What neurodegenerative disease targets oligodendrocytes and causes CNS demyelination?

Strong evidence for an essential contribution of dysmyelination/demyelination to neurodegeneration is derived from studies on multiple sclerosis (MS), one of the best-characterized demyelinating disorders of the CNS [66].