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Updated: Feb 12, 2026

In Vitro Myelination of Peripheral Axons in a Coculture of Rat Dorsal Root Ganglion Explants and Schwann Cells
Published on: February 10, 2023
miR-221-3p Inhibits Schwann Cell Myelination
Lili Zhao1, Ying Yuan2, Ping Li2
1Key laboratory of neuroregeneration of Jiangsu and Ministry of Education, Co-innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226001, China; State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and MOE Key Laboratory of Model Animal for Disease Study, Model Animal Research Center, Nanjing Biomedical Research Institute, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210000, China.
Abstract:
Following peripheral nerve injury, Schwann Cells (SCs) undergo dedifferentiation, proliferation, migration, and remyelination. Recent works demonstrated the importance of the short non-coding RNA (miRNAs) in SC dedifferentiation and remyelination after nerve injury. Previously, we found some miRNAs like miR-9, miR-221, miR-222 and miR-182 could regulate the proliferation and migration of SCs. Therefore, it is imperative to ask whether these miRNAs could regulate the myelination of SCs. Here we demonstrated that miR-221-3p could inhibit the myelination of SCs when co-cultured with dorsal root ganglion cells in vitro. In addition, NGF1-A binding protein 1 (Nab1) which was essential for SCs myelination could be downregulated by miR-221-3p. Suppressing the expression of Nab1 could reverse the promotion of miR-221-3p antagomir on SC myelination. The effects of miR-221-3p on SC myelination might be used to improve peripheral nerve regeneration, thus offering a new approach to peripheral nerve repair.
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