Integrin Signaling in Oligodendrocytes and Its Importance in CNS Myelination.pdfVIP

Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Signal Transduction Volume 2011, Article ID 354091, 11 pages doi:10.1155/2011/354091 Review Article Integrin Signaling in Oligodendrocytes and Its Importance in CNS Myelination Ryan W. O’Meara,1, 2 John-Paul Michalski,1, 2 and Rashmi Kothary1, 2, 3 1 Regenerative Medicine Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, 501 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1H 8L6 2 Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1H 8M5 3 Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1H 8M5 Correspondence should be addressed to Rashmi Kothary, rkothary@ohri.ca Received 14 September 2010; Accepted 28 October 2010 ´ ´ Academic Editor: J. Adolfo Garcıa-Sainz Copyright © 2011 Ryan W. O’Meara et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Multiple sclerosis is characterized by repeated demyelinating attacks of the central nervous system (CNS) white matter tracts. To tailor novel therapeutics to halt or reverse disease process, we require a better understanding of oligodendrocyte biology and of the molecular mechanisms that initiate myelination. Cell extrinsic mechanisms regulate CNS myelination through the interaction of extracellular matrix proteins and their transmembrane receptors. The engagement of one such receptor family, the integrins, initiates intracellular signaling cascades that lead to changes in cell phenotype. Oligodendrocytes express a diverse array of integrins, and the expression of these receptors is developmentally regulated. Int