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Molecular Organization of Myelin

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Myelin

Abstract

For many years, myelin was the focal point for studies of membrane structure, largely because of its abundance and accessibility for chemical analyses, and its ordered laminar structure, which made it amenable to physical measurements. It is widely recognized that myelin is a highly specialized membrane, both in structure and in function, and that it should perhaps be thought of as an organelle derived from the plasma membrane of oligodendrocytes or Schwann cells as a result of cellular differentiation processes that occur during development of the nervous system. To gain some insight into the complexities of this membranous structure, it is important to relate the growing body of structural information on myelin to the general principles of membrane structure that have emerged from the numerous studies of other membrane systems. Thus, I have attempted in this chapter to discuss in a critical way those studies from which our current concepts of myelin structure have evolved and to frame this discussion in the broader context of membrane structure that is emerging from other investigations. No claim, however, is made for comprehensiveness in the citation of studies on myelin or in the review of supporting material, since this review is not intended to be an encyclopedic documentation of all contributions to the field.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3G 1Y6

    Peter E. Braun

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  1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    Pierre Morell

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Braun, P.E. (1984). Molecular Organization of Myelin. In: Morell, P. (eds) Myelin. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1830-0_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1830-0_3

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