For a long time, the central nervous system (CNS) was believed to be an immune privileged organ. In the last decades, it became apparent that the immune system interacts with the CNS not only in pathological, but also in homeostatic situations. It is now clear that immune cells infiltrate the healthy CNS as part of immune surveillance and that immune cells communicate through cytokines with CNS resident cells. In pathological conditions, an enhanced infiltration of immune cells takes place to fight the pathogen. A well-known family of cytokines is the interleukin (IL)-6 cytokine family. All members are important in cell communication and cell signaling in the immune system. One of these members is oncostatin M (OSM), for which the receptor is expressed on several cells of the CNS. However, the biological function of OSM in the CNS is not studied in detail. Here, we briefly describe the general aspects related to OSM biology, including signaling and receptor binding. Thereafter, the current understanding of OSM during CNS homeostasis and pathology is summarized.

The brain’s endogenous capacity to restore damaged myelin deteriorates during the course of demyelinating disorders. Currently, no treatment options are available to establish remyelination. Chronic demyelination leads to damaged axons and irreversible destruction of the central nervous system (CNS). We identified two promising therapeutic candidates which enhance remyelination: oncostatin M (OSM), a member of the interleukin-6 family, and downstream mediator tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1). While remyelination was completely abrogated in OSMRβ knockout (KO) mice, OSM overexpression in the chronically demyelinated CNS established remyelination. Astrocytic TIMP-1 was demonstrated to play a pivotal role in OSM-mediated remyelination. Astrocyte-derived TIMP-1 drove differentiation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells into mature oligodendrocytes in vitro. In vivo, TIMP-1 deficiency completely abolished spontaneous remyelination, phenocopying OSMRβ KO mice. Finally, TIMP-1 was expressed by human astrocytes in demyelinated multiple sclerosis lesions, confirming the human value of our findings. Taken together, OSM and its downstream mediator TIMP-1 have the therapeutic potential to boost remyelination in demyelinating disorders.

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TNF signaling is an essential regulator of cellular homeostasis. Through its two receptors TNFR1 and TNFR2, soluble versus membrane-bound TNF enable cell death or survival in a variety of cell types. TNF-TNFRs signaling orchestrates important biological functions such as inflammation, neuronal activity as well as tissue de- and regeneration. TNF-TNFRs signaling is a therapeutic target for neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but animal and clinical studies yielded conflicting findings. Here, we ask whether a sequential modulation of TNFR1 and TNFR2 signaling is beneficial in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an experimental mouse model that recapitulates inflammatory and demyelinating aspects of MS. To this end, human TNFR1 antagonist and TNFR2 agonist were administered peripherally at different stages of disease development in TNFR-humanized mice. We found that stimulating TNFR2 before onset of symptoms leads to improved response to anti-TNFR1 therapeutic treatment. This sequential treatment was more effective in decreasing paralysis symptoms and demyelination, when compared to single treatments. Interestingly, the frequency of the different immune cell subsets is unaffected by TNFR modulation. Nevertheless, treatment with only a TNFR1 antagonist increases T-cell infiltration in the central nervous system (CNS) and B-cell cuffing at the perivascular sites, whereas a TNFR2 agonist promotes Treg CNS accumulation. Our findings highlight the complicated nature of TNF signaling which requires a timely balance of selective activation and inhibition of TNFRs in order to exert therapeutic effects in the context of CNS autoimmunity.

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