myelin

Also my·e·line

[mahy-uh-lin]

noun

Biology.

1. a soft, white, fatty material in the membrane of Schwann cells and certain neuroglial cells: the substance of the myelin sheath.

myelin

/ ˈmaɪɪˌliːn, ˈmaɪɪlɪn /

noun

1. a white tissue forming an insulating sheath ( myelin sheath ) around certain nerve fibres. Damage to the myelin sheath causes neurological disease, as in multiple sclerosis

myelin

1. A whitish, fatty substance that forms a sheath around many vertebrate nerve fibers. Myelin insulates the nerves and permits the rapid transmission of nerve impulses. The white matter of the brain is composed of nerve fibers covered in myelin.

Other Word Forms

• myelinic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of myelin¹

First recorded in 1865–70; myel- + -in ²

Example Sentences

Oligodendrocytes, the cells that produce myelin to insulate nerve fibers, expressed fewer genes required for maintaining and regenerating the myelin sheath.

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Their findings show that the immune system begins attacking the brain's protective myelin sheath -- the fatty covering that insulates nerve fibers -- much earlier than scientists once believed.

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In MS, the immune system mistakenly attacks the myelin sheath, a protective layer that insulates nerve fibers.

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The drug targets certain immune cells involved in inflammation and myelin damage in MS.

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In adaptive myelination, more active brain circuits gain more myelin -- the fatty insulation that allows electrical signals to travel faster and more efficiently through nerve fibers.

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