Emerging Cellular and Molecular Strategies for Enhancing Central Nervous System (CNS) Remyelination.

Authors

Mohammad Abu-Rub
Robert H Miller, George Washington University

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

6-15-2018

Journal

Brain Sciences

Volume

8

Issue

6

DOI

10.3390/brainsci8060111

Abstract

Myelination is critical for the normal functioning of the central nervous system (CNS) in vertebrates. Conditions in which the development of myelin is perturbed result in severely compromised individuals often with shorter lifespans, while loss of myelin in the adult results in a variety of functional deficits. Although some form of spontaneous remyelination often takes place, the repair process as a whole often fails. Several lines of evidence suggest it is feasible to develop strategies that enhance the capacity of the CNS to undergo remyelination and potentially reverse functional deficits. Such strategies include cellular therapies using either neural or mesenchymal stem cells as well as molecular regulators of oligodendrocyte development and differentiation. Given the prevalence of demyelinating diseases and their effects on the quality of life for affected individuals it is imperative that effective therapies are developed. Here we discuss some of the new approaches to CNS myelin repair that hold promise for reducing the burden of diseases characterized by myelin loss.

Comments

Reproduced with permission of MDPI AG. Brain Sciences

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

APA Citation

Abu-Rub, M., & Miller, R. (2018). Emerging Cellular and Molecular Strategies for Enhancing Central Nervous System (CNS) Remyelination.. Brain Sciences, 8 (6). http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/brainsci8060111

Peer Reviewed

1

Open Access

1