What is it about?
This study explores how the health of myelin—the protective coating around nerve fibers in the brain—may influence the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar. We found that a protein called Tmem117 helps maintain healthy myelin-producing cells. When Tmem117 was disrupted in mice, myelin was damaged and the animals, particularly males, had a weaker response to low blood sugar and developed longer-lasting changes in metabolism.
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Why is it important?
It is important because it reveals a new connection between brain myelin and the body’s control of blood sugar. The findings suggest that oligodendrocytes, the cells that make myelin, play a more active role in regulating metabolism than previously recognized. This could improve our understanding of conditions involving both myelin damage and metabolic problems and may point to new avenues for future research.
Perspectives
This study opens a new perspective on how the brain and the rest of the body communicate to regulate metabolism. Our findings suggest that maintaining healthy myelin and oligodendrocytes may be important for the body’s response to low blood sugar. Future research will need to determine whether this connection also occurs in humans and whether the Tmem117–NCX1 pathway could eventually be targeted to treat diseases involving myelin or metabolic dysfunction.
Sevasti Gaspari
University of Zurich
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Tmem117, an oligodendrocyte-enriched regulator of NCX activity, links myelin homeostasis to counterregulation and metabolic health, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, August 2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2530122123.
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