Researchers report a protein normally associated with prion diseases may help to maintain myelin.
Researchers restore significant bladder function, through nerve regeneration, in rats with severe spinal cord injuries.
Schwann cells are much more prolific in generating myelin than previously believed. Knocking out the fbxw7 gene in mouse models, researchers discovered individual Schwann cells began to spread myelin across many axons.
Doctors performed the first-ever FDA approved Schwann cell transplantation in a patient with a new spinal cord injury. The procedure is a Phase 1 clinical trial designed to evaluate the safety and feasibility of transplanting the patient’s own Schwann cells.
Severed axonal segments signal to Schwann cells to begin actin sphere formation and axon disintegration. If the process is disrupted, axon disintegration is slowed and axon fragments impair nerve regeneration.
Researchers convert adult skin cells into neural crest cells without any genetic modification.
Researchers have discovered that, following nerve damage, peripheral glial cells produce the growth factor neuregulin1, which assists in the regeneration of damaged nerves.
Schwann cells help protect nerves against blood clotting factors that cause degeneration, researchers report.
Study reports it may be possible to fine tune molecular signals to insure peripheral nerves are correctly insulated and function properly.
Researchers have identified key components of a mechanism that allows the nervous system to heal itself.
Researchers describe the mechanical forces at play during myelination.
The researchers knocked out the Erk gene during peripheral nervous system development in mice. The researchers noticed the neurons of these knock-out mice were largely unaffected, but Schwann cells were "just devastated at every stage of development."
