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Paving the Axonal Highway: From Stem Cells to Myelin Repair

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Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS), a demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system (CNS), remains among the most prominent and devastating diseases in contemporary neurology. Despite remarkable advances in anti-inflammatory therapies, the inefficiency or failure of myelin-forming oligodendrocytes to remyelinate axons and preserve axonal integrity remains a major impediment for the repair of MS lesions. To this end, the enhancement of remyelination through endogenous and exogenous repair mechanisms and the prevention of axonal degeneration are critical objectives for myelin repair therapies. Thus, recent advances in uncovering myelinating cell sources and the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that govern neural progenitor differentiation and myelination may pave a way to novel strategies for myelin regeneration. The scope of this review is to discuss the potential sources of stem/progenitor cells for CNS remyelination and the molecular mechanisms underlying oligodendrocyte myelination.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ed Hurlock for discussions and Kelly Zhang for illustration. This study was funded by grants from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the National Institutes of Health (QRL) as well as the French MS Society, the European Leukodystrophy Associations, and INSERM (BNO). QRL is a Harry Weaver Neuroscience Scholar and a Basil O’Connor Scholar.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Developmental Biology and Kent Waldrep Center for Basic Research on Nerve Growth and Regeneration, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, TX, 75390, USA

    Raniero L. Peru, Nicole Mandrycky & Q. Richard Lu

  2. INSERM Unit 546, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris 6, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France

    Brahim Nait-Oumesmar

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  1. Raniero L. Peru
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  2. Nicole Mandrycky
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  3. Brahim Nait-Oumesmar
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  4. Q. Richard Lu
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Correspondence to Brahim Nait-Oumesmar or Q. Richard Lu.

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Peru, R.L., Mandrycky, N., Nait-Oumesmar, B. et al. Paving the Axonal Highway: From Stem Cells to Myelin Repair. Stem Cell Rev 4, 304–318 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12015-008-9043-z

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