Cholesterol: A Novel Regulatory Role in Myelin Formation
Abstract
Myelin consists of tightly compacted membranes that form an insulating sheath around axons. The function of myelin for rapid saltatory nerve conduction is dependent on its unique composition, highly enriched in glycosphingolipids and cholesterol. Cholesterol emerged as the only integral myelin component that is essential and rate limiting for the development of CNS and PNS myelin. Experiments with conditional mouse mutants that lack cholesterol biosynthesis in oligodendrocytes revealed that only minimal changes of the CNS myelin lipid composition are tolerated. In Schwann cells of the PNS, protein trafficking and myelin compaction depend on cholesterol. In this review, the authors summarize the role of cholesterol in myelin biogenesis and myelin disease.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Oligodendrocytes myelinate the central nervous system and the bioavailability of cholesterol is rate-limiting for the formation and maintenance of myelin.
“Oligodendrocytes myelinate the central nervous system and the bioavailability of cholesterol is rate-limiting for the formation and maintenance of myelin29.”
From APOE4 impairs myelination via cholesterol dysregulation in oligodendrocytes (2022) · cites this paper as [29]
Galactocerebrosides are the most abundant glycolipid of myelin and cholesterol is an important part of the myelin sheath.
“Galactocerebrosides are the most abundant glycolipid of myelin [162] and cholesterol is an important part of the myelin sheath [163].”
From Oligodendrocyte death and myelin loss in the cuprizone model: an updated overview of the intrinsic and extrinsic causes of cuprizone demyelination (2022) · cites this paper as [163]
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 119 · Cited by 144
- Authors
- Saher, G., Quintes, S., & Nave, K.-A.
- Affiliations
- Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine (DE)
- Max Planck Society (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Saher, Gesine
- Venue
- The Neuroscientist
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2011-02
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 79-93
- ISSN
- 1073-8584 (ISSN-L)
- 1089-4098
- OpenAlex
- W2118905653
- Cited by
- 144
- References
- 119
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 2.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Neuroscientist (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (submittedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Cholesterol and Lipid Metabolism
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Multiple Sclerosis Research Studies
- Keywords
- cholesterol, myelination, myelin biogenesis, cholesterol biosynthesis, oligodendrocytes, Schwann cells, myelin lipid composition, glycosphingolipids, myelin compaction, myelin diseases
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Axons, Cholesterol, Humans, Myelin Sheath, Oligodendroglia, Schwann Cells
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
