Very little is still known about the basic biology of SGCs as well as how they regulate the homeostasis of the sensory neurons, and this study is the first description of changes at the transcriptome level. The study demonstrates how genes involved in lipid metabolism in SGCs is downregulated, specifically several genes involved in cholesterol synthesis. Furthermore, the study finds that previous reports of injury induced SGC proliferation may rather be proliferating macrophages close approaching the neuronal soma. Overall, this study opens several interesting questions about SGC biology which will be pursued in the Vægter lab in on-going and future projects.

Read the full article here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/glia.23785