Identifying Cell Types That Might Be Useful In Re-myelination

Violetta Zujovic, Ph.D., Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, reported on her work to identify cell types that might be useful in re-myelination.

During development, the entire nervous system begins as a mass of cells called the neural crest. Boundary cap cells (BC) are descended from neural crest cells. The BCs migrate to the boundary between the central (brain and spinal cord) and peripheral (sensory and motor nerves) divisions of the nervous system. BCs are important because they are the ancestors of Schwann cells (the myelin forming cells of the peripheral nerves). In addition, BCs are also the ancestors of some of the nocioceptive (pain-sensing) nerve cells of the dorsal root ganglia (part of the spinal cord).

To gain insights in BC’s behaviour in the demyelinated central nervous system, BCs were isolated from developing mouse brain. When BCs were transplanted to a demyelinated region of a mouse spinal cord, they were able to multiply, thus efficiently repairing the lesion. When grafted at a distance (one vertebra away) from the lesion, the BCs were not only able to multiply, but they and their descendents migrated toward the lesion. The migrating cells colonized and repaired the demyelinated lesion. Interestingly, the BCs were even more efficient at colonizing the demyelinated region than Schwann cells transplanted directly to the lesion. 

Thus, there is evidence that boundary cap cells are able to remyelinate central nervous system axons. This evidence strongly indicates that boundary cap cells are of interest as a potential method of central nervous system myelin repair.