Peripheral nerve injury is followed by a wave of Schwann cell proliferation in the distal nerve stumps. To resolve the role of Schwann cell proliferation during functional recovery of the injured nerves, we used a mouse model in which injury-induced Schwann cell mitotic response is ablated via targeted disruption of cyclin D1. In the absence of distal Schwann cell proliferation, axonal regenera...

Neurofibromin, the product of the neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) gene, is a -250 kDa protein expressed predominantly in cortical neurons and oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system (CNS) and sensory neurons and Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). To gain insight into the biological role of neurofibromin in Schwann cells, the modulation of NFZ gene expression in a Schwan...

The present experiments were designed to clarify the relationship between cAMP elevation, proliferation and differentiation in Schwann cells. They were carried out on short-term cultures of cells obtained from neonatal rat sciatic nerves. It was found that the myelin-related phenotype was expressed in response to agents that elevate or mimic intraceUular cAMP (forskolin, cholera toxin, cAMP ana...

In healthy adult peripheral nerve, Schwann cells are believed to be generally quiescent. Similarly, cultures of isolated rat sciatic nerve Schwann cells hardly proliferate in serum-supplemented medium. The possibility that Schwann cells negatively regulate their own proliferation was supported by the demonstration that conditioned media from Schwann cell cultures inhibited the proliferation of ...

Neurofibromas are benign tumors that comprise primarily of Schwann cells and fibroblasts. Mast cells have been found scattered in the tumor tissue, and their role in promoting the proliferation of neurofibroma has been suggested. Tranilast (N-[3,4-dimethoxycinnamolyl]anthranilic acid) is an anti-allergic drug that inhibits release of the chemical mediators from mast cells and it used for the tr...

Apoptosis is involved in the regulation of Schwann cell numbers during normal development and after axonal damage, but the molecular regulation of Schwann cell death remains unknown. We have used stably transfected rat Schwann cell lines to study the potential roles of nerve growth factor (NGF), the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 and the cytokine response modifier A (CrmA) in modulating Schwann ce...

Proliferation of Schwann cells is one of the first events that occurs after contact with a growing axon. To further define the distribution and properties of this axonal mitogen, we have (a) cocultured cerebellar granule cells, which lack glial ensheathment in vivo with Schwann cells; and (b) exposed Schwann cell cultures to isolated granule cell membranes. Schwann cells cocultured with granule...

BACKGROUND Increased mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation has been detected in peripheral nerve of human subjects and animal models with diabetes as well as high-glucose exposed human Schwann cells, and have been implicated in diabetic peripheral neuropathy. In our recent studies, leukocytetype 12/15-lipoxygenase inhibition or gene deficiency alleviated large and small nerve ...

after central nervous system (cns) injuries, the regeneration process does not work out well except for remyelination process. this remyelination capacity in cns can be mentioned as a worthy example of stem/precursor cell-mediated renewal process. remyelination in cns is mediated by schwann cells which act mainly as remyelinating agents in peripheral nervous system (pns) but several studies hav...