Nature Communications (Jan 2018)

Pharmacogenetic stimulation of neuronal activity increases myelination in an axon-specific manner

  • Stanislaw Mitew,
  • Ilan Gobius,
  • Laura R. Fenlon,
  • Stuart J. McDougall,
  • David Hawkes,
  • Yao Lulu Xing,
  • Helena Bujalka,
  • Andrew L. Gundlach,
  • Linda J. Richards,
  • Trevor J. Kilpatrick,
  • Tobias D. Merson,
  • Ben Emery

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02719-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
pp. 1 – 16

Abstract

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Neuronal activity is known to increase myelination by oligodendrocytes in the mouse brain. Here, Mitew et al. demonstrate that chemogenetic manipulations of somatosensory axon activity both increase the generation of new oligodendrocytes and preferentially enhance myelination of the activated axons.