Alessandro Morelli
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Neurol Neurophysiol
In the last years, we have focused our attention on the role of myelin sheath as an energy supporter for the nervous conduction.
We have observed that myelin is able to conduct and extramitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, consuming oxygen to
produce ATP. Moreover, we have also demonstrated a direct connection among myelin sheath and neuron, which may allow
the transfer of ATP from the sheath to the axon. Interestingly, the energetic role of myelin sheath was recently confirmed by
Gat-Viks et al, studying the alteration of the energetic metabolism in the vanish white matter disease.
This finding introduces two new paradigms, one in bioenergetic and the other in neurobiology. Firstly, our data demonstrated
that mitochondria is not the only “power-house”, but the OXPHOS proteins could be exported to other membranous structure,
to provide a more efficient energy production. Moreover, our hypothesis on the energetic function of myelin sheath sheds a
new light on the role of this structure, giving a possible explanation of the neuron degeneration observed in the demyelinating
diseases, as Multiple Sclerosis.
Alessandro Morelli (b. 1943) has studied enzyme Glucose-6-P-dehydrogenase and it’s molecular mechanism of senescence. He has been working in the field
of phototransducion and molecular events in photoreceptor cells of vertebrate retina. He has discovered the protein FX, a NADP dependent enzyme catalizing
synthesis of GDP-L-fucose. He has been working on the effects of electromagnetic fields of extremely low frequency on the activity of enzymes involved in
bioenergeticprocess. Recently he has studied the myelin energetic function in brain put in in evidence the ATP extramitochondrial synthesis, with application in
the study of Multiple Sclerosis and other neurodegenerative deseases.
