No abstract

We have analyzed the role of glutamate and its receptors (GluRs) in regulating the development of oligodendrocytes. Activation of AMPA-preferring GluRs with selective agonists inhibited proliferation of purified cortical oligodendrocyte progenitor (O-2A) cells cultured with different mitogens, as measured by [3H]thymidine incorporation or bromodeoxyuridine staining. In contrast, activation of GABA or muscarinic receptors did not affect O-2A proliferation. Cell viability and apoptosis assays demonstrated that the inhibition of O-2A proliferation was not attributable to a cytotoxic action of GluR agonists, and was reversible. Activation of GluRs prevented lineage progression from the O-2A (GD3+/nestin+) stage to the prooligodendroblast (O4+) stage, but did not affect O-2A migration. Additional experiments examined the membrane ionic channels mediating these GluR activation effects. We found that proliferating O-2A cells expressed functional delayed rectifier K+ channels, which were absent in pro-oligodendroblasts. GluR agonists and the K+ channel blocker tetraethylammonium (TEA) strongly inhibited delayed rectifier K+ currents in O-2A cells. TEA reproduced the effects of GluR activation on O-2A proliferation and lineage progression in the same concentration range that blocked delayed rectifier K+ currents. These results indicate that glutamate regulates oligodendrogenesis specifically at the O-2A stage by modulating K+ channel activity.

Previously, we tested the prediction that axonal damage results in decreased axial diffusivity ( ʈ ) while demyelination leads to increased radial diffusivity ( Ќ ). Cuprizone treatment of C57BL/6 mice was a highly reproducible model of CNS white matter demyelination and remyelination affecting the corpus callosum (CC). In the present study, six C57BL/6 male mice were fed 0.2% cuprizone for 12 weeks followed by 12 weeks of recovery on normal chow. The control mice were fed normal chow and imaged in parallel. Biweekly in vivo DTI examinations showed transient decrease of ʈ in CC at 2-6 weeks of cuprizone treatment. Immunostaining for nonphosphorylated neurofilaments demonstrated corresponding axonal damage at 4 weeks of treatment. Significant demyelination was evident from loss of Luxol fast blue staining at 6 -12 weeks of cuprizone ingestion and was paralleled by increased Ќ values, followed by partial normalization during the remyelination phase Diverse central nervous system (CNS) disorders involve white matter pathology leading to myelin and axon dysfunction (1-6). However, current neurologic examinations are not capable of differentiating the underlying axon and myelin pathologies causing the deficits (7,8). Recently, an analytical approach interpreting magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data in light of white matter pathology has been proposed (9 -11). Briefly, directional diffusivities of water molecules in white matter derived from DTI are separated into two components, i.e., axial ( ʈ ) and radial ( Ќ ) diffusivities describing water diffusion along and across axonal tracts, respectively. It has been demonstrated that axonal injury, such as axonal swelling and Wallerian degeneration (10), results in reduced ʈ , while dysmyelination increases Ќ without changing ʈ (11).The development of an effective therapy targeted at repairing axons and the protective myelin sheath may benefit from improved diagnostic tools that are capable of detecting and differentiating axonal damage and demyelination in various CNS disorders. To validate the aforementioned DTI parameters as surrogate markers of axon and myelin injury, the well-characterized CNS demyelination and remyelination mouse model of cuprizone (bis-cyclohexanone oxaldihydrazone) ingestion has been examined serially in living mice in the present study. Cuprizone, 0.2% by weight, was mixed in ground rodent chow and fed to a group of male C57BL/6 mice. The corpus callosum (CC) is the only tract in this mouse model that has been consistently documented to undergo massive and unequivocal demyelination as a result of cuprizone toxicity and remyelination after removal of cuprizone from the feed (12-16). The myelin and axonal pathology of the CC in the cuprizone-treated mice was demonstrated by histopathology and correlated with ex vivo DTI (9). Thus, the CC is the target white matter tract of the current study to test the in vivo DTI sensitivity and specificity of Ќ to demyelination and remyelination along with ʈ to axonal damage associated with cupri...

No abstract

Non-invasive assessment of the progression of axon damage is important for evaluating disease progression and developing neuroprotective interventions in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. We examined the cellular responses correlated with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-derived axial (λ||) and radial (λ⊥) diffusivity values throughout acute (4 weeks) and chronic (12 weeks) stages of demyelination and after 6 weeks of recovery using the cuprizone demyelination of the corpus callosum model in C57BL/6 and Thy1-YFP-16 mice. The rostro-caudal progression of pathologic alterations in the corpus callosum enabled spatially and temporally defined correlations of pathological features with DTI measurements. During acute demyelination, microglial/macrophage activation was most extensive and axons exhibited swellings, neurofilament dephosphorylation, and reduced diameters. Axial diffusivity values decreased in the acute phase but did not correlate with axonal atrophy during chronic demyelination. In contrast, radial diffusivity increased with the progression of demyelination but did not correlate with myelin loss or astrogliosis. Unlike other animals models with progressive neurodegeneration and axon loss, the acute axon damage did not progress to discontinuity or loss of axons even after a period of chronic demyelination. Correlations of reversible axon pathology, demyelination, microglia/macrophage activation, and astrogliosis with regional axial and radial diffusivity measurements will facilitate the clinical application of DTI in MS patients.

During central nervous system (CNS) development, glial precursors proliferate in subventricular zones and then migrate throughout the CNS to adopt their final destinations and differentiate into various types of mature glial cells. Although several growth factors promoting the proliferation and/or differentiation of glial precursors have been identified, very little is known about the nature of signals that guide glial cell migration in the CNS. Therefore, we have investigated whether polypeptide growth factors and/or extracellular matrix molecules may mediate the migration of two major glial cell types, type 1 astrocytes and oligodendrocyte-type 2 astrocyte (O-2A) progenitor cells. We show that, in a microchemotaxis chamber assay, type 1 astrocytes move toward laminin and complement-derived C5a. Astrocyte migration toward laminin is inhibited by a laminin-specific pentapeptide, YIGSR-NH2. In contrast, O-2A progenitors migrate toward platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), which also functions as a mitogen for these cells. Using a new method to simultaneously assay migration and DNA synthesis, we also demonstrate that O-2A progenitors can migrate toward PDGF even when DNA replication is inhibited with an antimitotic agent. Thus, migration of different types of glial cells can be induced in vitro by specific signaling molecules, which are present in the developing brain and may stimulate migration of glial cells prior to CNS myelination.

White matter tracts are highly vulnerable to damage from impact-acceleration forces of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Mild TBI is characterized by a low density of traumatic axonal injury, whereas associated myelin pathology is relatively unexplored. We examined the progression of white matter pathology in mice after mild TBI with traumatic axonal injury localized in the corpus callosum. Adult mice received a closed-skull impact and were analyzed from 3 days to 6 weeks post-TBI/sham surgery. At all times post-TBI, electron microscopy revealed degenerating axons distributed among intact fibers in the corpus callosum. Intact axons exhibited significant demyelination at 3 days followed by evidence of remyelination at 1 week. Accordingly, bromodeoxyuridine pulse-chase labeling demonstrated the generation of new oligodendrocytes, identified by myelin proteolipid protein messenger RNA expression, at 3 days post-TBI. Overall oligodendrocyte populations, identified by immunohistochemical staining for CC1 and/or glutathione S-transferase pi, were similar between TBI and sham mice by 2 weeks. Excessively long myelin figures, similar to redundant myelin sheaths, were a significant feature at all post-TBI time points. At 6 weeks post-TBI, microglial activation and astrogliosis were localized to areas of axon and myelin pathology. These studies show that demyelination, remyelination, and excessive myelin are components of white matter degeneration and recovery in mild TBI with traumatic axonal injury.

This study takes advantage of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) knock-out mice to determine the contribution of FGF2 to the regeneration of oligodendrocytes in the adult CNS. The role of FGF2 during spontaneous remyelination was examined using two complementary mouse models of experimental demyelination. The murine hepatitis virus strain A59 (MHV-A59) model produces focal areas of spinal cord demyelination with inflammation. The cuprizone neurotoxicant model causes extensive corpus callosum demyelination without a lymphocytic cell response. In both models, FGF2 expression is upregulated in areas of demyelination in wild-type mice. Surprisingly, in both models, oligodendrocyte repopulation of demyelinated white matter was significantly increased in FGF2 -/- mice compared with wild-type mice and even surpassed the oligodendrocyte density of nonlesioned mice. This dramatic result indicated that the absence of FGF2 promoted oligodendrocyte regeneration, possibly by enhancing oligodendrocyte progenitor proliferation and/or differentiation. FGF2 -/- and +/+ mice had similar oligodendrocyte progenitor densities in normal adult CNS, as well as similar progenitor proliferation and accumulation during demyelination. To directly analyze progenitor differentiation, glial cultures from spinal cords of wild-type mice undergoing remyelination after MHV-A59 demyelination were treated for 3 d with either exogenous FGF2 or an FGF2 neutralizing antibody. Elevating FGF2 favored progenitor proliferation, whereas attenuating endogenous FGF2 activity promoted the differentiation of progenitors into oligodendrocytes. These in vitro results are consistent with enhanced progenitor differentiation in FGF2 -/- mice. These studies demonstrate that the FGF2 genotype regulates oligodendrocyte regeneration and that FGF2 appears to inhibit oligodendrocyte lineage differentiation during remyelination.