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Science 5 March 1965:
Vol. 147. no. 3662, pp. 1099 - 1107
DOI: 10.1126/science.147.3662.1099
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Articles

Stability of the Myelin Membrane

Lipid molecules may impart stability to the myelin membrane through intermolecular cohesion

John S. O'Brien 1

1 Division of Chemical Pathology, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles

The hypothetical questions which were asked earlier may now be answered as follows. Myelin lipids do possess characteristics which could lead to a tightly organized, closely packed, highly stable membrane structure, while lipids in adjacent neurons and glial cells do possess characteristics which could give rise to a more loosely organized, less stable membrane structure. The greater degree of metabolic inertness of myelin lipids may be explained on this basis. The stability of myelin itself may also be based largely on the intermolecular cohesion between lipid molecules, since the lipid content of myelin is extraordinarily high. Physiological and clinical studies tend to support the concept that a surfeit of polyunsaturated lipids or a deficiency of long-chain sphingolipids can result in a more easily disrupted membrane. The most important prediction to be drawn from these speculations is that myelin may be rendered unstable in disease if its lipid composition is altered so that higher proportions of lipids containing polyunsaturated fatty acids and lower proportions of lipids containing very-long-chain fatty acids are present.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Dysmyelination Revisited.
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Arch Neurol 35, 401-408
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Fatty Acid Composition of Lipids in Cerebral Myelin and Synaptosomes in Phenylketonuria and Down Syndrome.
R. C. Johnson, C. M. McKean, and S. N. Shah (1977)
Arch Neurol 34, 288-294
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Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD) VIII. MLD in Adults; Diagnosis and Pathogenesis.
J. Austin, D. Armstrong, S. Fouch, C. Mitchell, D. Stumpf, L. Shearer, and O. Briner (1968)
Arch Neurol 18, 225-240
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Euglena gracilis: A Novel Lipid Energy Reserve and Arachidonic Acid Enrichment during Fasting.
A. Rosenberg (1967)
Science 157, 1189-1191
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A Neurochemical Study of a Case of Sudanophilic Leukodystrophy.
B. GERSTL, L. J. RUBINSTEIN, L. F. ENG, and M. TAVASTSTJERNA (1966)
Arch Neurol 15, 603-614
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Myelin Membrane: A Molecular Abnormality.
J. S. O'Brien and E. L. Sampson (1965)
Science 150, 1613-1614
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)