Inflammation’s impact on the interaction between oligodendrocytes and axons

Oligodendrocytes are responsible for myelination of axons and providing trophic and metabolic support to the myelinated axon. They also interact with immune effector cells, including microglia and T cells, hence, are involved in CNS immune regulation. Given the crucial roles for oligodendrocytes and myelin in axonal function and maintenance, dysfunction, whether through cell death, myelin injury and loss, or failure in normal myelin formation, impairs neurological function. In diseases such as multiple sclerosis, the leukodystrophies and viral infection, neuroinflammation is an important effector of myelin injury, having secondary consequences for the myelinated axon. In this review we discuss the role of oligodendrocytes in health and inflammatory disease, with a focus on the interplay between inflammation and oligodendrocyte-axon interactions.