In multiple sclerosis, demyelination of the CNS axons is associated with axonal injury and degeneration, which is now accepted as the major cause of neurological disability in the disease. Although the kinetics and the extent of axonal damage have been described in detail, the mechanisms by which it occurs are as yet unclear; one suggestion is failure of remyelination. The goal of this study wa...

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Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) is believed to play a deleterious role in the immune-mediated demyelinating disorder multiple sclerosis. Here we have exploited transgenic mice that ectopically express IFN-gamma in a temporally controlled manner in the CNS to specifically study its effects on remyelination in the cuprizone-induced demyelination model and in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis...

Basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors Olig1 and Olig2 critically regulate oligodendrocyte development. Initially identified as a downstream effector of Olig1, an oligodendrocyte-specific zinc finger transcription repressor, Zfp488, cooperates with Olig2 function. Although Zfp488 is required for oligodendrocyte precursor formation and differentiation during embryonic development, its role...

Myelin is a critical component of the nervous system and a major contributor to contrast in Magnetic Resonance (MR) images. However, the precise contribution of myelination to multiple MR modalities is still under debate. The cuprizone mouse is a well-established model of demyelination that has been used in several MR studies, but these have often imaged only a single slice and analysed a small...

In order to further investigate the molecular mechanisms that regulate oligodendrocyte (OC) survival, we utilized microarrays to characterize changes in OC gene expression after exposure to the cytokines neurotrophin3, insulin, or leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) in vitro. We identified and validated the induction and secretion of the neuropeptide galanin in OCs, specifically in response to LIF...

11 Myelin is a critical component of the nervous system and a major contributor to contrast in Magnetic Resonance (MR) images. However the precise contribution of myelination to multiple MR modalities is still under debate. The cuprizone mouse is a well established model of demyelination that has been used in several MR studies, but these have often imaged only a single slice and analysed a sma...

In neuroinflammatory disorders such as multiple sclerosis, the physiological function of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is perturbed, particularly in demyelinating lesions and supposedly secondary to acute demyelinating pathology. Using the toxic non-inflammatory cuprizone model of demyelination, we demonstrate, however, that the onset of persistent BBB impairment precedes demyelination. In addi...

11 Myelin is a critical component of the nervous system and a major contributor to contrast in Magnetic Resonance (MR) images. However the precise contribution of myelination to multiple MR modalities is still under debate. The cuprizone mouse is a well established model of demyelination that has been used in several MR studies, but these have often imaged only a single slice and analysed a sma...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) characterized by inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes. One of its pathophysiological hallmarks is demyelination, a consequence of oligodendroglial cell death leading supply shortfall and missing electrical insulation to axons. Demyelination induced consequences on neuronal network activity and subsequen...