An excellent survey of the most recent advances in the area of cellular and molecular biology of glial cells and their involvement in remyelination and functional repair in the CNS. A major part of this book deals with signaling paths within and among neural cells. Glial cells (astrocytes, oligodentrocytes, microglial cells) themselves release substantial amounts of cytokines, growth factors and other signaling molecules, which play an important role during injury and regeneration. Another signaling route between neurons and glial cells follows ion channels and neurotransmitter receptors. In addition to animal models, human oligodentrocytes in cell culture and in the human MS brain are characterized with respect to their immunocytochemistry and function.

Experts in the field of cellular and molecular biology of myelination present their latest results. Various techniques were used such as tissue culture, transplantation, transfection, immunocytochemistry and approaches to study the phylogenetic aspects of myelination as well as molec- ular biology. Concerning glial cells: hormones and second messengers play an important role in the regulation of the phenotype and the expression of myelin components at the transcriptional level; these findings are also part of particular relevance for remyelination. Concerning myelin: compositional studies revealed an increasing number of minor components to be of crucial importance for cellular adhesion processes; from a phylogenetic point of view vertebrate myelin has existed for 400 million years with important alterations in its compositon. This book offers a superb collection of the latest results presented by internationally reknowned scientists.