Symbol Myelin-PO_C InterPro IPR019566 OPM protein 3oai | Pfam PF10570 OPM superfamily 230 Pfam structures | |
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Myelin protein zero (P0, MPZ) is a glycoprotein which in humans is encoded by the MPZ gene. P0 is a major structural component of the myelin sheath, and its deficiency due to various mutations in the MPZ gene is associated with Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease and Dejerine–Sottas disease.
Contents
Function
The myelin sheath is a multi-layered membrane, unique to the nervous system, that functions as an insulator to greatly increase the velocity of axonal impulse conduction. The P0 glycoprotein, absent in the central nervous system, is a major component of the myelin sheath in peripheral nerves. It comprises a large extracellular N-terminal domain, a single transmembrane region, and a smaller positively charged intracellular domain. It is postulated that P0 is a structural element in the formation and stabilisation of peripheral nerve myelin, holding its characteristic coil structure together by the interaction of its positively charged domain with acidic lipids in the cytoplasmic face of the opposed bilayer, and by interaction between hydrophobic globular `heads' of adjacent extracellular domains.
Interactions
Myelin protein zero has been shown to interact with peripheral myelin protein 22.