Glia: Oligodendrocyte transporters feed axons.

摘要

When we think of oligodendrocytes, we think myelination. But there is increasing evidence that there is much more to oligodendrocyte function than the myelin sheath, and new work show: that oligodendrocytes use a lactate transporter to provide metabolic support to axons and neurons. Neurons and axons have very high energy demands but are isolated from extracellular metabolites by their myelin sheaths, except at the nodes of Ranvier. It is possible, therefore, that axons depend on energy substrates provided by oligodendrocytes. Rothstein and colleagues set out to test this idea by looking at monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1), the most highly expressed lactate transporter in the CNS.