What Is a Myelin Sheath? Myelin sheaths are sleeves of fatty tissue that protect your nerve cells. These cells are part of your central nervous system, which carries messages back and forth ...

The myelin sheath of nerve fibers was first discovered and described by Rudolf Virchow in 1854. Myelin is composed of about 40% water and the dry mass is composed of about 80% lipids and 20% protein.

Conditional knock-out mice in which Myrf is knocked out in the OL lineage cells completely fail to develop CNS myelin and exhibit severe neurological symptoms, eventually prematurely dying. Recently, ...

Dr. Pablo M. Paez is a Principal Investigator of the Institute for Myelin and Glia Exploration and Assistant Professor in Pharmacology and Toxicology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical ...

Damage or loss of myelin sheath is the hallmark of various neurological diseases in adults (e.g., multiple sclerosis) and infants (e.g., cerebral palsy) and is common after brain injuries.

It occurs when the immune system attacks the myelin sheath that surrounds and protects nerve cells. Existing treatments aim to suppress the immune system to prevent further damage to nerve cells.

Certain medical conditions can damage myelin. Demyelination slows down messages sent along axons and causes the axon to deteriorate. The location of the damage affects the symptoms a person ...

The researchers concluded that "myelin seems to act as an energy source when other brain nutrients are depleted during endurance exercise, and that further research is needed to establish how ...

More information: Pedro Ramos-Cabrer et al, Reversible reduction in brain myelin content upon marathon running, Nature Metabolism (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s42255-025-01244-7 ...