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Glial α-Glycerophosphate Dehydrogenase and Central Myelination

Nature volume 216, pages 605–606 (1967)Cite this article

Abstract

A PREVIOUS study of oxidative enzyme activity in the macroglia of adult cat optic nerve1 has shown that α-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) activity which is not linked to NAD is localized exclusively in astrocytes. This suggests active involvement of these cells in lipid metabolism. Astrocytes are distributed in association with myelinated nerve fibres in the post-laminar part of the optic nerve, with myelinated and non-myelinated fibres in the lamina cribrosa and with non-myelinated fibres in the prelaminar part of the nerve. Astrocytes alone of the macroglia cells are associated with the myelinated fibres within the lamina cribrosa2. For these reasons it has been suggested that astrocytes may support the myelin sheath of the adult central nervous system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Anatomy, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales

    MICHAEL J. BLUNT & C. P. WENDELL-SMITH

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  1. MICHAEL J. BLUNT
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  2. C. P. WENDELL-SMITH
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BLUNT, M., WENDELL-SMITH, C. Glial α-Glycerophosphate Dehydrogenase and Central Myelination. Nature 216, 605–606 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1038/216605a0

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