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Schwann Cells and Myelin in the Peripheral Nervous System

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Biopsy Diagnosis of Peripheral Neuropathy

Abstract

Schwann cells (SCs) are derived from the neural crest and encircle all peripheral nerve axons. Functionally, two populations of Schwann cells can be identified, those producing myelin and those associated with unmyelinated axons. Because this distinction is fundamental to the appearance and physiology of SCs, the two types will be discussed separately. Schwann cells associated with unmyelinated fibers have been called Remak cells, but we will refer to them as nonmyelinating Schwann cells (NMSCs) because whether an SC produces myelin or not depends not on some critical and irreversible decision made in the process of differentiation, but on signals (likely neuregulin) originating from its axon and related to its caliber. Axonal neuregulin signals information about axon size to Schwann cells; hypomyelination and hypermyelination result from reduced and overexpression of neuregulin, respectively. Rarely, an unmyelinated axon develops one or more short myelinated internodes along its course, a phenomenon described particularly in aged animals. Schwann cell biology has been the subject of a series of reviews collected in a special issue of Glia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sunnybrook and St Michael’s Hospitals, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Juan M. Bilbao MD, FRCP (C) (Professor Emeritus of Neuropathology)

  2. Division of Neuropathology Department of Pathology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Robert E. Schmidt MD, PhD (Professor of Pathology and Immunology Director)

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Bilbao, J.M., Schmidt, R.E. (2015). Schwann Cells and Myelin in the Peripheral Nervous System. In: Biopsy Diagnosis of Peripheral Neuropathy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07311-8_5

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