Effects of sleep and wake on oligodendrocytes and their precursors.

ABSTRACT: Previous studies of differential gene expression in sleep and wake pooled transcripts from all brain cells and showed that several genes expressed at higher levels during sleep are involved in the synthesis/maintenance of membranes in general and of myelin in particular, a surprising finding given the reported slow turnover of many myelin components. Other studies showed that oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) are responsible for the formation of new myelin in both the injured and the normal adult brain, and that glutamate released from neurons, via neuron-OPC synapses, can inhibit OPC proliferation and affect their differentiation into myelin-forming oligodendrocytes. Because glutamatergic transmission is higher in wake than in sleep, we asked whether sleep and wake can affect oligode

SUBMITTER: Bellesi M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3874087 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature