Insights on the Interaction of MBP and Microtubules.

MAURICIO R. GALIANO; LÓPEZ SAMBROOKS, CECILIA; MARTA E. HALLAK

Myelin Basic Protein

Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated

Lugar: Nueva York; Año: 2008; p. 125 - 146

One of the cellular elements of the glia in the central nervous system (CNS) is the oligodendrocyte. Lamella from these specialized cells, which wraps the neuronal axons, provides and maintains the myelin sheath that serves to speed up the action potentials by saltatory conduction. In oligodendrocytes there are a large class of proteins, predominantly cytoplasmic, called myelin basic proteins (MBP) that have a central role in myelin formation. During myelinogenesis, these cells extend branched processes toward axons and the extension of these processes as well as the formation of the myelin sheaths are supported by the oligodendrocyte cytoskeleton assembled by microtubules and microfilaments (Wilson and Brophy, 1989). Several studies have recognized the relevance of cytoskeletal arrangement during the morphological differentiation of oligodendrocytes (Lunn, et al., 1997a; Lunn et al., 1997b; Song, et al., 1999; Richter-Landsberg, 2000) as well as the reorganization of microtubules and microfilaments during the formation of processes and branches (Song, et al., 2001). The present review will emphasize the interaction between MBP and the microtubules. Moreover among the putative functions derived from this interaction, and also between MBP and microfilaments, an active participation of MBP in oligodendroglial differentiation has been suggested. Thus, besides the known role of MBP in myelin compaction, another function of MBP is in the ordering of the oligodendrocyte?s cytoskeletal elements during CNS axonal myelination.