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A large fraction of neocortical myelin ensheathes axons of local inhibitory neurons.

Kristina D Micheva | Dylan Wolman | Brett D Mensh | Elizabeth Pax | JoAnn Buchanan | Stephen J Smith | Davi D Bock
eLife | 2016

Myelin is best known for its role in increasing the conduction velocity and metabolic efficiency of long-range excitatory axons. Accordingly, the myelin observed in neocortical gray matter is thought to mostly ensheath excitatory axons connecting to subcortical regions and distant cortical areas. Using independent analyses of light and electron microscopy data from mouse neocortex, we show that a surprisingly large fraction of cortical myelin (half the myelin in layer 2/3 and a quarter in layer 4) ensheathes axons of inhibitory neurons, specifically of parvalbumin-positive basket cells. This myelin differs significantly from that of excitatory axons in distribution and protein composition. Myelin on inhibitory axons is unlikely to meaningfully hasten the arrival of spikes at their pre-synaptic terminals, due to the patchy distribution and short path-lengths observed. Our results thus highlight the need for exploring alternative roles for myelin in neocortical circuits.

Pubmed ID: 27383052

Associated grants

  • Agency: NINDS NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 NS075252
  • Agency: NINDS NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 NS092474
  • Agency: NINDS NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 NS094499
  • Agency: NIMH NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R21 MH099797
  • Agency: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, United States

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This is a list of tools and resources that we have found mentioned in this publication.


TrakEM2 (tool)

RRID:SCR_008954

An ImageJ plugin for morphological data mining, three-dimensional modeling and image stitching, registration, editing and annotation. Two independent modalities exist: either XML-based projects, working directly with the file system, or database-based projects, working on top of a local or remote PostgreSQL database. What can you do with it? * Semantic segmentation editor: order segmentations in tree hierarchies, whose template is exportable for reuse in other, comparable projects. * Model, visualize and export 3D. * Work from your laptop on your huge, remote image storage. * Work with an endless number of images, limited only by the hard drive capacity. Dozens of formats supported thanks to LOCI Bioformats and ImageJ. * Import stacks and even entire grids (montages) of images, automatically stitch them together and homogenize their histograms for best montaging quality. * Add layers conveniently. A layer represents, for example, one 50 nm section (for TEM) or a confocal section. Each layer has its own Z coordinate and thickness, and contains images, labels, areas, nodes of 3d skeletons, profiles... * Insert layer sets into layers: so your electron microscopy serial sections can live inside your optical microscopy sections. * Run any ImageJ plugin on any image. * Measure everything: areas, volumes, pixel intensities, etc. using both built-in data structures and segmentation types, and standard ImageJ ROIs. And with double dissectors! * Visualize RGB color channels changing the opacity of each on the fly, non-destructively. * Annotate images non-destructively with floating text labels, which you can rotate/scale on the fly and display in any color. * Montage/register/stitch/blend images manually with transparencies, semiautomatically, or fully automatically within and across sections, with translation, rigid, similarity and affine models with automatically extracted SIFT features. * Correct the lens distortion present in the images, like those generated in transmission electron microscopy. * Add alpha masks to images using ROIs, for example to split images in two or more parts, or to remove the borders of an image or collection of images. * Model neuronal arbors with 3D skeletons (with areas or radiuses), and synapses with connectors. * Undo all steps. And much more...

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Glutamine Synthetase (antibody)

RRID:AB_397879

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Rabbit anti-parvalbumin (antibody)

RRID:AB_2315235

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Anti-NFL (Neurofilament Light Chain) Antibody (antibody)

RRID:AB_2313553

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Anti-Proteolipid Protein Antibody (antibody)

RRID:AB_2313560

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Anti-Myelin Basic Protein Antibody (antibody)

RRID:AB_2313550

This polyclonal targets Myelin Basic Protein (MBP)

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Anti-NFH (Neurofilament Heavy Chain) Antibody (antibody)

RRID:AB_2313552

This polyclonal targets Neurofilament Heavy Chain (NFH)

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Anti-NFL (Neurofilament Light Chain) Antibody (antibody)

RRID:AB_2313553

This polyclonal targets Neurofilament Light Chain (NFL)

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