Stanford Psychiatry Team Awarded Grant to Research the Circadian Mechanisms of Myelination

We are excited to announce that the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has awarded a grant to Stanford Psychiatry’s Erin Gibson, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.

This grant funds Dr. Gibson’s project, “Circadian mechanisms of myelination,” which will investigate how the circadian system regulates oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) and consequent myelination — OPCs are the precursor cells to myelin-forming oligodendrocytes that encapsulate neuronal axons in myelin, facilitating the transmission of electrical impulses along nerve cells.

“Many brain disorders are associated with circadian and myelin phenotypes, but how these two biological processes intersect during brain maturation remains unknown,” writes Dr. Gibson in the research abstract. “The proposed experiments aim to deepen our understanding of the circadian mechanisms mediating myelin-forming cell dynamics and myelination in neurodevelopment and early adulthood.”

Dysmyelination is documented in individuals with autism, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s disease. This research aims to better understand the relationship between circadian modulation and OPC maintenance and myelination to shed light on the mechanisms of brain health and potential therapeutic strategies to treat various brain disorders.

“There remains an unmet need to define the mechanisms mediating OPC dynamics during these two types of myelination [developmental myelination in early-life and myelin plasticity in adulthood] and to reveal their roles in defining and refining circuits and behavior in development and disease,” writes Dr. Gibson.

Dr. Gibson leads the Gibson Lab at Stanford University, which studies how the circadian clock system regulates glial cell function as a lens to better understand diseases of the nervous system. Recent publications from the lab include “BMAL1 loss in oligodendroglial lineage cells dysregulates myelination and sleep” in bioRxiv and “NF1 mutation drives neuronal activity-dependent initiation of optic glioma” in Nature.

More Details

The grant was awarded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Read more details about the funding on NIH RePORTER.