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Review
. 2017 Nov;74(22):4049-4057.
doi: 10.1007/s00018-017-2565-2. Epub 2017 Jun 9.

Wallerian demyelination: chronicle of a cellular cataclysm

Nicolas Tricaud  1 , Hwan Tae Park  2
Affiliations
Review

Wallerian demyelination: chronicle of a cellular cataclysm

Nicolas Tricaud et al. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2017 Nov.

Abstract

Wallerian demyelination is characteristic of peripheral nerve degeneration after traumatic injury. After axonal degeneration, the myelinated Schwann cell undergoes a stereotypical cellular program that results in the disintegration of the myelin sheath, a process termed demyelination. In this review, we chronologically describe this program starting from the late and visible features of myelin destruction and going backward to the initial molecular steps that trigger the nuclear reprogramming few hours after injury. Wallerian demyelination is a wonderful model for myelin degeneration occurring in the diverse forms of demyelinating peripheral neuropathies that plague human beings.

Keywords: Cellular reprogramming; Degeneration; Myelin; Peripheral nervous system; Schwann cells; Wallerian demyelination.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Illustration of the different steps occuring in a myelinated Schwann cell during Wallerian demyelination. The timeframe is shown at the top and between each timepoint the different events occuring in the cell during the respective time period are shown
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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