Myelin insulation as a risk factor for axonal degeneration in autoimmune demyelinating disease

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Abstract

Axonal degeneration determines the clinical outcome of multiple sclerosis (MS), and is thought to result from exposure of denuded axons to immune-mediated damage. We challenge this view after finding in MS and its mouse models that myelin itself increases the risk of axons to degenerate under inflammatory conditions. We propose a model for demyelinating diseases in which for axons that remain myelinated, and thus shielded from the extracellular milieu, dependence from oligodendroglial support turns fatal in an autoimmune disease environment.

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