Myelin is a specialized membrane enriched in glycosphingolipids and cholesterol that contains a restricted set of proteins. The mechanisms by which oligodendrocytes target myelin components to myelin are not known. To identify the sorting determinants for protein transport to myelin, we used a primary oligodendrocyte culture system in which terminal differentiation is synchronized and there is ...

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS). The main cause of the MS is yet to be revealed, but the most probable theory is based on the molecular mimicry that concludes some infections in the activation of T cells against brain auto-antigens that initiate the disease cascade.Objectives: The Purpose of this research is the...

Proteolipid protein (PLP), the major protein of central nervous system myelin, contains covalently bound fatty acids, predominantly palmitic acid. This study adapts a stable isotope technique (Kuwae, T., Schmid, P. C., Johnson, S. B., and Schmid, H. O. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 5002–5007) to quantitatively determine the minimal proportion of PLP molecules which undergo palmitoylation. In these...

Proteolipid protein (PLP), the major protein of central nervous system myelin, contains covalently bound fatty acids, predominantly palmitic acid. This study adapts a stable isotope technique (Kuwae, T., Schmid, P. C., Johnson, S. B., and Schmid, H. O. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 5002-5007) to quantitatively determine the minimal proportion of PLP molecules which undergo palmitoylation. In these...

The proteolipid protein gene products DM-20 and PLP are adhesive intrinsic membrane proteins that make up >/=50% of the protein in myelin and serve to stabilize compact myelin sheaths at the extracellular surfaces of apposed membrane lamellae. To identify which domains of DM-20 and PLP are positioned topologically in the extracellular space to participate in adhesion, we engineered N-glycosylat...

Axons in the PNS and CNS are ensheathed by multiple layers of tightly compacted myelin membranes. A series of cytoplasmic channels connect outer and inner margins of PNS, but not CNS, myelin internodes. Membranes of these Schmidt-Lantermann (S-L) incisures contain the myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) but not P(0) or proteolipid protein (PLP), the structural proteins of compact PNS (P(0)) an...

The differentiation of the oligodendrocyte from its bipotential progenitor culminates in the production of the myelin-specific proteins and the elaboration of membrane processes that ensheath the axon. Mutations in proteolipid protein (PLP) and its alternatively spliced isoform DM-20, the major protein constituents of central nervous system myelin, are characterized by a significant reduction i...

We report here that an epitope (aa, 83-95) derived from Acanthamoeba castellanii (ACA) induces clinical signs of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in SJL/J mice reminiscent of the disease induced with myelin proteolipid protein (PLP) 139-151. By using IA(s)/tetramers, we demonstrate that both ACA 83-95 and PLP 139-151 generate antigen-specific cross-reactive CD4 T cells and the T ...

Myelin is a special multilamellar structure involved in various functions in the nervous system. In the central nervous system, the oligodendrocyte (OL) produces myelin and has a unique morphology. OLs have a dynamic membrane sorting system associated with cytoskeletal organization, which aids in the production of myelin. Recently, it was reported that the assembly and disassembly of actin fila...