Lecture #9 Flashcards
what is myelin and what is its function?
a protrusion of the membrane of Schwann cells which wraps around the axon insulating it allowing for faster conduction of nerve impulses
which cells of the nervous system are not coated in myelin?
nodes of ranvier
where to Schwann cells come from?
neural crest cells
what two types of Schwann cells can be differentiated from neural crest cells after birth?
myelinating Schwann cells that wrap one single axon multiple times, or non-myelinating schwann cells where more than one small axon is circled by just one Schwann cell
what occurs for Schwann cells to differentiate?
signals coming from the axon to the Schwann cels activate a cascade of signaling molecules such as those in the phospho-AKT and phospho-ERK pathways as well as a series of tfs that act as positive regulators of myelinization that when activated allow the myelination process to progress
under what conditions can Schwann cells de-differentiate and go back to the immature type?
in cases of nerve injury
describe the difference between Schwann cells in the CNS vs PNS:
Schwann cells in the PNS have the ability to become de-myelinating and then revert back to myelinatiing cells (plastic) whereas the CNS cannot
what is Charcot Marie tooth syndrome?
a genetic disease that arises when you have problems in systems that give rise to myelination
describe CMT1:
based on demyelination (bound defects, contraction of tendons, loss of muscle)
describe CMT2:
axonal type based electrophysiology and morphology
what is the biggest problem faced with CMT?
there are more than 1000 mutations found in over 100 genes that can cause hereditary neuropathies, so there are patients with very similar phenotyoes but the origin of the disease can be very different
what is the most common form of CMT and what does it entail?
CMT1A: there is a loss of finer nd in some axons you can see onion bulbs
what are onion bulbs?
protrusions that proliferate and attempt to re-myelinate the axon
what is Dejerine-Sottas Syndrome (DSS)?
sever disease in children where the nerve and muscles never develop properly and have a notable presence of large onion bulbsk
since there are many different mutations on different genes involved in this disease, scientists decided to focus on a broad approach that targets a mechanism - what did the focus on?
myelin protein zero (P0)
describe myelin protein zero:
a single passage transmembrane protein which has an extracellular domain the folds like an immunoglobulin domain → the most present protein in myelin of peripheral nerves (200 different mutations for CMT)
describe the function of P0 in peripheral myelin:
most abundant protein and forms tetramers which can allow for the packing of myelin
which specific amino acid did they decide to focus on and why?
S63 → there was more than one mutation in this aa and different mutations produced different phenotypes
what does the deletion of S63 cause?
classical CMT1 de-myelinating disease
what does a substitution of the S63 with S63C cause?
DSS - much more severe
they generated mice models with both the deletion and the substitution, what type of mutation did they discover?
both mutations gave rise to a different phenotype so both mutations cause a gain of function
describe the normal path of a myelin protein:
goes to the ER then to the golgi, and then most likely folded next to the myelin sheet
what would theorhetically happen if the protein was not folded as usual?
autophagy is activated or ERAD, but if there is an excess of the protein the UPR is activated
what are the three pathways of the UPR?
IRE1, PERK, ATF6
describe the IRE1 pathway:
encodes for a potent transcription factor (XBP1)that translocates to the nucleus and activates genes encoding for chaperones or associated to ER degradation → activates genes that try to fold proteins and remove them from the ER
describe the PERK pathway:
dimerization and autophosphorylation of PERK, which causes the phosphorylation of the the translation initiation factor eIF2⍺ which attenuates protein translation
what is another name for the PERK pathway?
integrated stress response → PERK targets eIF2⍺ not only in cases of misfolded proteins but also in viral infections and other challenges to the cell
describe the ATF6 pathway:
translocates to the Golgi where it is cleaved into the active form and then inactivates a series of genes partially overlapping with the IRE1 pathway
describe the adaptivity of the UPR:
on one side you have misfolded proteins in the ER and then you activate eIF2⍺ to reduce protein translation because you don’t want have too many misfolded proteins, but also activate genes which try to fold the proteins
what happens if the UPR goes on for too long?
it becomes maladaptive and causes cell death