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Comment
. 2015 Jul 6;210(1):9-10.
doi: 10.1083/jcb.201506039.

Myelinophagy: Schwann cells dine in

Michael Thumm  1 , Mikael Simons  2
Affiliations
Comment

Myelinophagy: Schwann cells dine in

Michael Thumm et al. J Cell Biol. .

Abstract

When nerve injury occurs, the axon and myelin fragments distal to the injury site have to be cleared away before repair. In this issue, Gomez-Sanchez et al. (2015; J. Cell Biol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201503019) find that clearance of the damaged myelin within Schwann cells occurs not by phagocytosis but rather via selective autophagy, in a process they term "myelinophagy."

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Myelinophagy. (A) Graphical illustration of a healthy myelinating Schwann cell. (B) When Wallerian degeneration is initiated, the axon starts to break down into fragments. (C) The Schwann cell then internalizes myelin fragments, possibly by the fusion of the outer “lips” of the Schwann cell plasma membrane. (D) Next, the resulting myelin fragments are taken up into phagophores. Not shown is the following: the sealing of phagophores to form autophagosomes and their fusion with lysosomes, which finally leads to degradation of the myelin fragments.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

  • Schwann cell autophagy, myelinophagy, initiates myelin clearance from injured nerves.
    Gomez-Sanchez JA, Carty L, Iruarrizaga-Lejarreta M, Palomo-Irigoyen M, Varela-Rey M, Griffith M, Hantke J, Macias-Camara N, Azkargorta M, Aurrekoetxea I, De Juan VG, Jefferies HB, Aspichueta P, Elortza F, Aransay AM, Martínez-Chantar ML, Baas F, Mato JM, Mirsky R, Woodhoo A, Jessen KR. Gomez-Sanchez JA, et al. J Cell Biol. 2015 Jul 6;210(1):153-68. doi: 10.1083/jcb.201503019. J Cell Biol. 2015. PMID: 26150392 Free PMC article.

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