Myelin

Myelin
The fatty substance that covers and protects nerves. Myelin is a layered tissue surrounding the axons or nerve fibers. The sheath around the nerve fibers which acts electrically as a conduit in an electrical system, ensuring that messages sent by nerve fibers are not lost en route.
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1. The lipoproteinaceous material, composed of regularly alternating membranes of lipid lamellae (cholesterol, phospholipids, sphingolipids, phosphatidates) and protein, of the m. sheath. 2. Droplets of lipid formed during autolysis and postmortem decomposition.

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my·e·lin 'mī-ə-lən n a soft white somewhat fatty material that forms a thick myelin sheath about the protoplasmic core of a myelinated nerve fiber
my·e·lin·ic .mī-ə-'lin-ik adj

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n.
a complex material formed of protein and phospholipid that is laid down as a sheath around the axon of certain neurones, known as myelinated (or medullated) nerve fibres. The material is produced and laid down in concentric layers by Schwann cells at regular intervals along the nerve fibre. Myelinated nerves conduct impulses more rapidly than nonmyelinated nerves.

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my·elin (miґə-lin) [Gr. myelos marrow] the substance of the cell membrane of Schwann cells that coils to form the myelin sheath (see under sheath); it has a high proportion of lipid to protein and serves as an electrical insulator. myelinic adj

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • myelin — (n.) also myeline, soft material found in nerve tissues, 1867, from Ger. Myelin (1854), from Gk. myelos marrow; the brain, innermost part, of unknown origin …   Etymology dictionary

  • myelin — my e*lin, myeline my e*line, n. [Gr. myelo s marrow.] (Physiol. Chem.) (a) A soft white substance constituting the medullary sheaths of nerve fibers, and composed mainly of cholesterin, lecithin, cerebrin, protein, and some fat. (b) One of a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Myelīn — (Talksteinmark), s. Steinmark …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Myelīn — Myelīn, Nervenmark, fettähnliche Substanz (Lecithin), in den meisten Nervenfasern der Wirbeltiere und mancher Wirbellosen …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • myelin — [mī′ə lin] n. [Ger < Gr myelos, marrow: see MYELO & INE3] the white, fatty substance forming a sheath about certain nerve fibers myelinic adj …   English World dictionary

  • Myelin — Structure of a typical neuron Myelin sheath Dendrite …   Wikipedia

  • Myelin — Transmissionselektronenmikroskopisches Bild der das Axon konzentrisch umgebenden Myelinscheide Myelin ist eine lipidreiche Biomembran, welche die Axone der meisten Nervenzellen von Wirbeltieren spiralförmig umgibt und elektrisch isoliert. Myelin… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • myelin — myelinic, adj. /muy euh lin/, n. Biol. a soft, white, fatty material in the membrane of Schwann cells and certain neuroglial cells: the substance of the myelin sheath. Also, myeline /muy euh leen /. [1865 70; MYEL + IN2] * * * ▪ biochemistry… …   Universalium

  • myelin — noun Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary Date: 1873 a soft white somewhat fatty material that forms a thick myelin sheath about the protoplasmic core of a myelinated nerve fiber • myelinic adjective …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • myelin — The material making up the myelin sheath of nerve axons …   Dictionary of molecular biology

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