Published: 23-04-2019 13:32 | Updated: 14-05-2019 10:39

Protein composition changes stimulate brain development and neuronal communication

Subtle changes in protein composition by a process called ‘citrullination’ are thought to be involved in causing several diseases, including multiple sclerosis. Researchers from Karolinska Institutet now show in the journal Cell Reports that the enzyme PAD2, the main protein responsible for this process in the brain, also plays an important role in the normal development of a subset of brain cells, known as oligodendrocytes, and in their function in stimulating neuronal communication.

This study was led by Goncalo Castelo-Branco, Associate Professor and Principle Investigator at the department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics.

Publication

PAD2-Mediated Citrullination Contributes to Efficient Oligodendrocyte Differentiation and Myelination.
Falcão AM, Meijer M, Scaglione A, Rinwa P, Agirre E, Liang J, et al
Cell Rep 2019 Apr;27(4):1090-1102.e10

Funding

This study was financed by the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Brain Foundation, the European Committee for Treatment and Research of Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), the Swedish Cancer Society, NIH-NINDS, Marie-Skłodowska Curie Actions, the European Union, the Swedish Brain Foundation, the Ming Wai Lau Centre for Reparative Medicine, the Swedish Cancer Society, the Petrus och Augusta Hedlunds Foundation and Karolinska Institutet.