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Glial cells in the nervous system are responsible for ensheathing the axons of neurons in myelin. However, the positive and negative signals regulating myelination remain obscure. In a Perspective, Hempstead and Salzer discuss new work (Cosgayaet al.) that identifies the neurotrophin BDNF and its receptor p75 as positive modulators of myelination by Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system.
B. L. Hempstead is in the Department of Medicine, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY 10021, USA. E-mail: blhempst{at}med.Cornell.edu. J. L. Salzer is in the Department of Cell Biology and Department of Neurology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA. E-mail: jim.salzer{at}med.nyu.edu.
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