Three principle types of glial cells will play a role in our later discussion: the microglia,
the astrocytes, and the Oligodendrocytes.
Also, Oligodendrocytes can alter how many sheets of myelin they lay down,
which can be up to 150 sheets per fiber, again altering conduction velocity.
A repair process, called remyelination,
takes place in early phases of the disease, but the Oligodendrocytes are unable to completely rebuild the cell's myelin sheath.
Combining innovative approaches including super-resolution microscopy, genome editing with CRISPR/Cas, and novel genetic cytoskeletal tools devised in his own lab, Zuchero's team will investigate how and
why myelin wrapping requires the dramatic disassembly of the oligodendrocyte actin cytoskelton, a process that
may reveal new targets or treatment paths for myelin regeneration and repair.