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.

Steps in Glial Cell Differentiation and Myelinogenesis.- The O-2A Progenitor During Development and Remyelination.- Regulation of Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Development: Antibody-Perturbation Studies.- Oligodendrocyte Differentiation: Developmental and Functional Subpopulations.- Long-Term Tissue Cultures of Newborn Rat Optic Nerve Cells: Functional Differentiation of Glia and Appearance of Neuron-Like Cells.- Distribution of Myelin Protein Gene Products in Actively-Myelinating Oligodendrocytes.- Immuno-Localization of Sodium Channels in Axon Membrane and Astrocytes and Schwann Cells in Vivo and in Vitro.- Demyelination, Remyelination and Glial Cell Transplantation.- Some Aspects of Mechanisms of Inflammatory Demyelination.- Tellurium-Induced Demyelination.- Oligodendrocyte Reaction to Axonal Damage.- Glial Cell Differentiation in Regeneration and Myelination.- Aggregating Brain Cell Cultures: A Model to Study Myelination and Demyelination.- The Transplantation of Glial Cells into Areas of Primary Demyelination.- Remyelination of a Chemically Induced Demyelinated Lesion in the Spinal Cord of the Adult Shiverer Mouse by Transplanted Oligodendrocytes.- Signal Transduction and Regulatory Events in Myelin-Forming Cells.- cAMP-Dependent Protein Kinase: Subunit Diversity and Functional Role in Gene Expression.- Protein Kinase C in neuronal Cell Growth and Differentiation.- Oligodendrocyte-Substratum Interaction Signals Cell Polarization and Secretion.- Proteinkinase A and C are Involved in Oligodendroglial Process Formation.- Growth Factors in Human Glial Cells in Culture.- Regulation of Oligodendrocyte Development by Insulin-Like Growth Factors and Cyclic AMP.- Platelet-Derived Growth Factor and Its Receptors in Central Nervous System Gliogenesis.- Transfected Cells as a Tool in Myelin Research.- Gene Transfer of Rat Mature Oligodendrocytes and O-2A Progenitor Cells with the ß-Galactosidase Gene.- Immortalization of Oligodendrocyte Precursors from the Optic Nerve of the Rat with a Temperature-Sensitive form of the SV40T Antigen Using a Retrovirus Vector.- Expression of Nervous System cDNAs in Glial and Non-Glial Cell Lines.- Phylogenetic Aspects of Myelination.- Myelin and Myelin-Forming Cells in the Brain of Fish - A Cell Culture Approach.- Myelin Proteolipid Protein: Cladistic Tool to Study Vertebrate Phylogeny.- Phylogentic Asrects of Myelin Structure.- Components and Structures of Myelin.- Composition and Metabolism of Myelin Cerebrosides and Gangliosides.- Receptor Activity and Signal Transduction in Myelin.- Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein - A Model Target Antigen for Antibody Mediated Demyelination.- Role of an Endogenous Mannosyl-Lectin in Myelination and Stabilization of Myelin Structure.- Myelin Gene Regulation in the Peripheral Nervous System.- GTP-Binding Proteins Associated with CNS Myelin.- Molecular Biology of Genes Coding for Myelin Proteins.- Molecular Approaches to the Study of the Regulation of Myelin Synthesis.- From Myelin Basic Protein to Myelin Deficient Mice.- Proteolipid Protein: From the Primary Structure to the Gene.- Developmental Expression of the Myelin Proteolipid Protein Gene.- The Myelination Cascade.