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Schwann Cell Exosomes Mediate Neuron–Glia Communication and Enhance Axonal Regeneration

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Abstract

The functional and structural integrity of the nervous system depends on the coordinated action of neurons and glial cells. Phenomena like synaptic activity, conduction of action potentials, and neuronal growth and regeneration, to name a few, are fine tuned by glial cells. Furthermore, the active role of glial cells in the regulation of neuronal functions is underscored by several conditions in which specific mutation affecting the glia results in axonal dysfunction. We have shown that Schwann cells (SCs), the peripheral nervous system glia, supply axons with ribosomes, and since proteins underlie cellular programs or functions, this dependence of axons from glial cells provides a new and unexplored dimension to our understanding of the nervous system. Recent evidence has now established a new modality of intercellular communication through extracellular vesicles. We have already shown that SC-derived extracellular vesicles known as exosomes enhance axonal regeneration, and increase neuronal survival after pro-degenerative stimuli. Therefore, the biology nervous system will have to be reformulated to include that the phenotype of a nerve cell results from the contribution of two nuclei, with enormous significance for the understanding of the nervous system in health and disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. FONDAP Geroscience Center for Brain Health and Metabolism, Santiago, Chile

    Rodrigo Lopez-Leal & Felipe A. Court

  2. Millennium Nucleus in Regenerative Biology (MINREB), Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biology, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Av. B. O’Higgins 340, 8331150, Santiago, Chile

    Rodrigo Lopez-Leal & Felipe A. Court

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  1. Rodrigo Lopez-Leal
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Correspondence to Felipe A. Court.

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Lopez-Leal, R., Court, F.A. Schwann Cell Exosomes Mediate Neuron–Glia Communication and Enhance Axonal Regeneration. Cell Mol Neurobiol 36, 429–436 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10571-015-0314-3

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