Scientists have found a lipid transporter crucial to regulating the cells that make myelin, the nerve-protecting sheath.
Scientists have found a lipid transporter crucial to regulating the cells that make myelin, the nerve-protecting sheath.
Scientists from Singapore have demonstrated the critical role played by a special transporter protein in regulating the brain cells that ensure nerves are protected by coverings called myelin sheaths. The findings, reported by researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School and the National University of Singapore in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, could help to reduce the damaging impacts of ageing on the brain.
An insulating membrane encasing nerves, myelin sheaths facilitate the quick and effective conduction of electrical signals throughout the body’s nervous system. When the myelin sheath gets damaged, nerves may lose their ability to function and cause neurological disorders. With ageing, myelin sheaths may naturally start to degenerate, which is often why the elderly lose their physical and mental abilities.
“Loss of myelin sheaths occurs during the normal ageing process and in neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr Sengottuvel Vetrivel, Senior Research Fellow with Duke-NUS’ Cardiovascular & Metabolic Disorders (CVMD) Programme and lead investigator of the study. “Developing therapies to improve myelination—the formation of the myelin sheath—in ageing and disease is of great importance to ease any difficulties caused by declining myelination.”
Read more at Duke-NUS Medical School
Image: Dr Sengottuvel Vetrivel (left) and Prof David Silver (right) (Credit: Duke-NUS Medical School)
