Upcoming Lecture

The Linda & Jack Gill Center for Biomolecular Science & The Program in Neuroscience

are pleased to present a talk by

Klaus-Armin Nave, Ph.D.
Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine

"Axon-glia interactions and mouse models of human myelin disease"

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 4:00 p.m.
Psychological & Brain Sciences Building Room PY101 IUB Hosted by Cary Lai

Abstract:
The long-term integrity of axons is a bottleneck for the function of the nervous system, as illustrated by many several neurodegenerative diseases. Oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells myelinate long axons for rapid impulse conduction, but other important functions of these axon-associated glial cells exist that remain poorly understood. We have identified genes expressed exclusively in mature oligodendrocytes, such as Plp1 and Cnp1, that are not essential for myelination, yet required the long-term survival of axons. The role of ensheathing glia in preserving axonal integrity also involves peroxisomes that are often localized at sites of axon-glial contact. Loss of peroxisomal functions in oligodendrocytes of conditional Pex5 mutants causes axon loss in the white matter and a strong inflammatory response, with the infiltration of B and activated CD8(+) T cells. The model is discussed that oligodendrocytes provide a neuroprotective function against both axonal degeneration and neuroinflammation, which is relevant for human neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis.

Misty Theodore
Indiana University
The Linda and Jack Gill Center for Biomolecular Sciences
1101 East Tenth Street, Room 345
Bloomington, Indiana 47405
Phone: (812) 856-1930
Fax: (812) 856-7187
Email: mtheodor@indiana.edu
Gill Center- http://www.indiana.edu/~gillctr/ Program in Neuroscience- http://www.indiana.edu/~neurosci/index.html