Myelin Sheath

▪ Myelin sheaths are produced by glia: oligodendrocytes in the CNS and Schwann cells
in the PNS.
▪ During development, this
specialized glia wraps axons
in many layers of membrane.
▪ The membranes forming
these layers are mostly lipid,
which is a poor conductor of
electrical current and thus a
good insulator.
• In myelinated axons, voltage-
gated sodium channels are
restricted to gaps in the myelin
sheath called nodes of Ranvier.
• Furthermore, the extracellular
fluid is in contact with the axon
membrane only at the nodes.
▪ As a result, action potentials
are not generated in the regions between the nodes. Rather, the inward current produced
during the rising phase of the action potential at a node travel within the axon all the way
to the next node.
▪ There, the current depolarizes the membrane and regenerates the action potential.
• Action potentials propagate more rapidly in myelinated axons because the time-
consuming process of opening and closing of ion channels occurs at only a limited
number of positions along the axon (rather than normal propagation which includes
depolarizing every region in axon membrane starting from the initial segment (axon
hillock)).
▪ This mechanism for propagating action potentials is called saltatory conduction (from
the Latin saltare, to leap) because the action potential appears to jump from node to
node along the axon.
• The major selective advantage of myelination is its space efficiency.
• A myelinated axon 20 µm in diameter has a conduction speed faster than that of a squid
giant axon with a diameter 40 times greater. Consequently, more than 2,000 of those
myelinated axons can be packed into the space occupied by just one giant axon.
• If the myelination of an axon is longer than the another axon the impulse will be faster
impulse between nodes of Ranvier in the longer one.
• For any axon, myelinated or not, the conduction of an action potential to the end of the
axon sets the stage for the next step in neuronal signaling—the transfer of information to
another cell. This information handoff occurs at synapses
Myelin sheath in detail
Structure of Myelin Sheath
Myelin
• Myelin is a lipid-rich (fatty) substance that makes a covering around axons.
• This covering of myelin insulates the axons and protects them.
• It also increases the rate of nerve impulse conduction.
• There are spaces left in between the myelin sheath that form nodes of Ranvier (essential
for speedy nerve impulse conduction).
• Myelin formed around the axons of central nervous system neurons is different from that
of peripheral nervous system neurons.
▪ In the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord, and optic nerve), the glial cells
responsible for forming myelin sheath are oligodendrocytes.
▪ But in the peripheral nervous system, the glial cells which produce myelin sheath are
Schwann cells.
The cell membrane of Schwann cells is called neurolemma, each Schwann cell has one
nucleus, cytoplasm.
• Due to myelin sheath, saltatory conduction of nerve impulse occurs in which nerve
impulses jump from one node of Ranvier to another until they reach the target cells for
producing a response.
Chemical composition of Myelin Sheath
• Although both the central nervous system myelin and the peripheral nervous system
myelin plays the same role of insulating the axon both differ from each other slightly in
composition and configuration, but we can say in generally that they are made of lipo-
protein.
• The myelin of the central nervous system appears to be white due to the presence of
lipids in large quantities.
• Hence it is termed as white matter. Blood vessels supply oxygen and energy-rich
compounds such as glucose to these axon fibers.
Chemically myelin sheath has the following substances:
▪ Approximately 40% of water
▪ 60-70% lipid
▪ 15-25% protein
Cholesterol is also a major component of myelin. In the absence of cholesterol, myelin is not
formed.
Process of Myelination
Myelination is defined as the formation of the myelin sheath around the axon.
This makes myelinated motor neurons different from the unmyelinated ones.
The myelin sheath is formed by myelin and myelin is produced by neuroglia (Neuroglia are
also known as glia or glial cells and help the neurons in conducting nerve impulses by
providing structural and metabolic role.
These cells provide support by protecting and nourishing the neurons and in addition to this
they maintain the interstitial fluid present around the neuron).
Neuroglia, that form myelin in neurons, are of the following types:
▪ Oligodendrocytes
▪ Schwann cells
Oligodendrocytes
• Oligodendrocytes also are known as oligodendroglia
are star-shaped neuroglia that produces myelin
sheath on the axons of the central nervous system.
• A single oligodendrocyte has multiple arm-like
processes that arise from the cell body. These arm-
like processes help this neuroglia to myelinate
multiple axons by making a covering of myelin
sheath around them.
• Unlike in Schwann cells, the cell body and nucleus
of oligodendrocytes remains detached from myelin
sheath.
• In the myelinated neurons of oligodendrocytes, nodes of Ranvier are present, but they are
present at a distance than those formed by Schwann cells.
Schwann cells
• Schwann cells are also known as neurolemmocytes.
• These are flat cells that are involved in the formation of the myelin sheath covering over
the axons present in the peripheral nervous system.
• A single Schwann cell myelinates only a single axon.
• Therefore, for myelinating more than one axon of the peripheral nervous system, multiple
Schwann cells are required (this is because a single Schwann cell makes a lipid-rich layer
around the axon in about 1mm of axon’s length).
• The myelination of the axons by Schwann cells starts in the fetal development stage.
• Schwann cells continue forming a lipid-rich membrane around the axon until there are
sufficient layers formed around the axon.
• During the process of forming layers, the nucleus and cytoplasm of the Schwann cells
squeezed out gradually. After myelination, the nucleus and cytoplasm of the Schwann
cells are present in the outermost layer. This outermost layer, containing the nucleus and
cytoplasm, is known as neurolemma.
Along the length of the axons, the gaps that are formed after the formation of the myelin
sheath are called nodes of Ranvier.
In these, the electrical impulses form and travel quickly by jumping from node to node. In
comparison to this, in unmyelinated neurons, the electrical impulses have to travel
throughout the cell membrane to reach the target which makes the process of signal
transduction relatively slower.

Importance of Myelin Sheath

• The insulating feature of Myelin is important for the normal functioning of neurons.
• Motor neurons that are involved in movement such as walking need Myelin Sheath
insulation for quick signal conduction.
• Sensory neuron functions, hearing, seeing, or sensation of pain, are also dependent upon
the myelin sheath insulation.
• As myelin sheath is covering around the axon, one of its functions is to serve as a
separating layer for the axon from the extracellular components because it covers the ion
channels in the area that it is placed on thus separating extracellular components.
• However, it is mainly involved in increasing the velocity of nerve impulse conduction for
a quick response.
• Myelin has low capacitance and high electrical resistance and can act as an insulator.
Therefore, the myelin sheath acts as an insulating layer to increase the speed of signal
conduction.
▪ Due to myelin sheath, myelinated motor neurons can conduct nerve impulses at a higher
speed than unmyelinated neurons.
• Nodes of Ranvier, gaps formed due to myelination, have clusters of sodium and
potassium ion channels that are voltage sensitive. These nodes of Ranvier are important
in saltatory nerve impulse conduction in which the signal jumps from node to node along
the entire length of the axon. This type of conduction due to myelin sheath gives the
following benefits:
▪ Increases the signal conduction speed.
▪ Reduces the amount of energy consumed for conducting nerve impulses as the energy
needed in myelinated motor neuron fibers is less than that for unmyelinated fibers.
▪ The speed of signal conduction also depends upon the diameter of the axon. The
diameter of the myelinated axons is large enough to facilitate a speedy nerve impulse
conduction because by increasing the diameter the resistance decreased.
Examples of Myelinated and Unmyelinated Axons
Myelinated Axons
Myelinated axons are required in cells where quick response is required. Myelinated axons
are present in sensory neurons and motor neurons. But all the motor neurons are not
myelinated. Some are unmyelinated as well. Motor neurons of the somatic nervous system
are myelinated, and the motor neurons of the upper motor neurons are myelinated. They are
involved in conducting quick response signals to the muscles or glands as happens in the
case of the reflex arc, where a fast response is required to avoid any injury.
Unmyelinated Axons
Unmyelinated Axons are present in the autonomic nervous system. Both the parasympathetic
nervous system and sympathetic nervous system are a part of autonomic nervous system.
These systems are formed by motor neurons whose axons are unmyelinated. In addition to
these, the small axons neurons in the central nervous system are also unmyelinated axons.
What is membrane capacitance, and its relation to the myelin sheath why it decreases with
the myelinated regions?
Capacitance: the ability of an electrical system to store
charge or the charge required to initiate an action
potential/electrical impulse; the low capacitance conveyed to
an axon by myelination means that a lower change in ion
concentration is required to initiate an axon potential.