Fibrosis is a common pathological response to inflammation in many peripheral tissues and can prevent tissue regeneration and repair. Here, we identified persistent fibrotic scarring in the CNS ...following immune cell infiltration in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse model of multiple sclerosis. Using lineage tracing and single-cell sequencing in EAE, we determined that the majority of the fibrotic scar is derived from proliferative CNS fibroblasts, not pericytes or infiltrating bone marrow-derived cells. Ablating proliferating fibrotic cells using cell-specific expression of herpes thymidine kinase led to an increase in oligodendrocyte lineage cells within the inflammatory lesions and a reduction in motor disability. We further identified that interferon-gamma pathway genes are enriched in CNS fibrotic cells, and the fibrotic cell-specific deletion of Ifngr1 resulted in reduced fibrotic scarring in EAE. These data delineate a framework for understanding the CNS fibrotic response.
Disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is critical to initiation and perpetuation of disease in multiple sclerosis (MS). We report an interaction between oligodendroglia and vasculature in MS ...that distinguishes human white matter injury from normal rodent demyelinating injury. We find perivascular clustering of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) in certain active MS lesions, representing an inability to properly detach from vessels following perivascular migration. Perivascular OPCs can themselves disrupt the BBB, interfering with astrocyte endfeet and endothelial tight junction integrity, resulting in altered vascular permeability and an associated CNS inflammation. Aberrant Wnt tone in OPCs mediates their dysfunctional vascular detachment and also leads to OPC secretion of Wif1, which interferes with Wnt ligand function on endothelial tight junction integrity. Evidence for this defective oligodendroglial-vascular interaction in MS suggests that aberrant OPC perivascular migration not only impairs their lesion recruitment but can also act as a disease perpetuator via disruption of the BBB.
Oligodendrocyte (OL) maturation arrest in human white matter injury contributes significantly to the failure of endogenous remyelination in multiple sclerosis (MS) and newborn brain injuries such as ...hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) that cause cerebral palsy. In this study, we identify an oligodendroglial-intrinsic factor that controls OL maturation specifically in the setting of injury. We find a requirement for the ring finger protein Rnf43 not in normal development but in neonatal hypoxic injury and remyelination in the adult mammalian CNS. Rnf43, but not the related Znrf3, is potently activated by Wnt signaling in OL progenitor cells (OPCs) and marks activated OPCs in human MS and HIE. Rnf43 is required in an injury-specific context, and it promotes OPC differentiation through negative regulation of Wnt signal strength in OPCs at the level of Fzd1 receptor presentation on the cell surface. Inhibition of Fzd1 using UM206 promotes remyelination following ex vivo and in vivo demyelinating injury.
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•RNF43 marks activated OPCs in human white matter injury•Rnf43 is required for OPC differentiation in injury, not in development•Rnf43 inhibits the Wnt pathway by regulating Fzd1 surface presentation on OPCs•Pharmacological inhibition of Fzd1 promotes OPC differentiation during remyelination
Niu et al. identify a factor, Rnf43, that marks activated oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) in human white matter injury, which is required in an injury-specific context for their maturation and successful remyelination, and acts by regulating Wnt signal strength at the level of OPC surface presentation of the Wnt receptor Fzd1.
Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) undergo an extensive and coordinated migration in the developing CNS, using the pre-formed scaffold of developed blood vessels as their physical substrate for ...migration. While OPC association with vasculature is critical for dispersal, equally important for permitting differentiation and proper myelination of target axons is their appropriate and timely detachment, but regulation of this process remains unclear. Here we demonstrate a correlation between the developmental formation of astrocytic endfeet on vessels and the termination of OPC perivascular migration. Ex vivo and in vivo live imaging shows that astrocyte endfeet physically displace OPCs from vasculature, and genetic abrogation of endfoot formation hinders both OPC detachment from vessels and subsequent differentiation. Astrocyte-derived semaphorins 3a and 6a act to repel OPCs from blood vessels at the cessation of their perivascular migration and, in so doing, permit subsequent OPC differentiation by insulating them from a maturation inhibitory endothelial niche.
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•Astrocyte endfoot placement terminates developmental OPC perivascular migration•Astrocyte-derived semaphorins 3a and 6a act to repel OPCs from blood vessels•OPC detachment from endothelium permits their subsequent differentiation
Su et al. find that the developmental placement of astrocyte endfeet on vessels controls the termination of widespread OPC perivascular migration. Astrocytes produce semaphorins 3a and 6a, which repel OPCs from the vasculature and permit their subsequent differentiation by releasing them from a maturation inhibitory endothelial niche.
Remyelination after white matter injury (WMI) often fails in diseases such as multiple sclerosis because of improper recruitment and repopulation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) in lesions. ...How OPCs elicit specific intracellular programs in response to a chemically and mechanically diverse environment to properly regenerate myelin remains unclear. OPCs construct primary cilia, specialized signaling compartments that transduce Hedgehog (Hh) and G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signals. We investigated the role of primary cilia in the OPC response to WMI. Removing cilia from OPCs genetically via deletion of Ift88 results in OPCs failing to repopulate WMI lesions because of reduced proliferation. Interestingly, loss of cilia does not affect Hh signaling in OPCs or their responsiveness to Hh signals but instead leads to dysfunctional cyclic AMP (cAMP)-dependent cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB)-mediated transcription. Because inhibition of CREB activity in OPCs reduces proliferation, we propose that a GPCR/cAMP/CREB signaling axis initiated at OPC cilia orchestrates OPC proliferation during development and in response to WMI.
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•OPCs need primary cilia for proliferation in development and white matter injury•The primary cilium is not required for canonical Hh signaling in OPCs•A cAMP/CREB signaling axis initiated within the primary cilium regulates OPC proliferation
Hoi et al. find that deletion of Ift88 in OPCs leads to loss of their primary cilia. OPCs require these cilia for proliferation in development and white matter injury. It is not required for canonical Hh signaling, and they propose that a primary cilium-initiated GPCR/cAMP/CREB signaling axis orchestrates OPC proliferation.
Hypoxia can injure white matter tracts leading to cerebral palsy in neonates. Cree et al. demonstrate in a mouse model of neonatal hypoxic injury that the antihistamine clemastine promotes ...myelination and improves functional recovery. Clemastine may represent a potential therapy for hypoxic brain injuries associated with white matter injury.
Abstract
Hypoxia can injure brain white matter tracts, comprised of axons and myelinating oligodendrocytes, leading to cerebral palsy in neonates and delayed post-hypoxic leukoencephalopathy (DPHL) in adults. In these conditions, white matter injury can be followed by myelin regeneration, but myelination often fails and is a significant contributor to fixed demyelinated lesions, with ensuing permanent neurological injury. Non-myelinating oligodendrocyte precursor cells are often found in lesions in plentiful numbers, but fail to mature, suggesting oligodendrocyte precursor cell differentiation arrest as a critical contributor to failed myelination in hypoxia. We report a case of an adult patient who developed the rare condition DPHL and made a nearly complete recovery in the setting of treatment with clemastine, a widely available antihistamine that in preclinical models promotes oligodendrocyte precursor cell differentiation. This suggested possible therapeutic benefit in the more clinically prevalent hypoxic injury of newborns, and we demonstrate in murine neonatal hypoxic injury that clemastine dramatically promotes oligodendrocyte precursor cell differentiation, myelination, and improves functional recovery. We show that its effect in hypoxia is oligodendroglial specific via an effect on the M1 muscarinic receptor on oligodendrocyte precursor cells. We propose clemastine as a potential therapy for hypoxic brain injuries associated with white matter injury and oligodendrocyte precursor cell maturation arrest.
Unlike mammals, zebrafish can regenerate their injured spinal cord and regain control of caudal tissues. It was recently shown that Wnt/β-catenin signaling is necessary for spinal cord regeneration ...in the larval zebrafish. However, the molecular mechanisms of regeneration may or may not be conserved between larval and adult zebrafish. To test this, we assessed the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling after spinal cord injury in the adult zebrafish. We show that Wnt/β-catenin signaling is increased after spinal cord injury in the adult zebrafish. Moreover, overexpression of Dkk1b inhibited Wnt/β-catenin signaling in the regenerating spinal cord of adult zebrafish. Dkk1b overexpression also inhibited locomotor recovery, axon regeneration, and glial bridge formation in the injured spinal cord. Thus, our data illustrate a conserved role for Wnt/β-catenin signaling in adult and larval zebrafish spinal cord regeneration.
•Wnt/β-catenin signaling is increased after spinal cord injury in adult zebrafish.•Dkk overexpression inhibits Wnt/β-catenin signaling in the injured spinal cord.•Dkk overexpression inhibits locomotor recovery after spinal cord injury.•Dkk overexpression inhibits axon regeneration & glial bridge formation.
Amyloid β-protein (Aβ) assembly is hypothesized to be a seminal neuropathologic event in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We used an unbiased D-amino acid substitution strategy to determine ...structure-assembly relationships of 76 different Aβ40 and Aβ42 peptides. We determined the effects of the substitutions on peptide oligomerization, secondary structure dynamics, fibril assembly dynamics, and fibril morphology. Our experiments revealed that the assembly of Aβ42 was more sensitive to chiral substitutions than was Aβ40 assembly. Substitutions at identical positions in the two peptides often, but not always, produced the same effects on assembly. Sites causing substantial effects in both Aβ40 and Aβ42 include His14, Gln15, Ala30, Ile31, Met35, and Val36. Sites whose effects were unique to Aβ40 include Lys16, Leu17, and Asn 27, whereas sites unique to Aβ42 include Phe20 and Ala21. These sites may be appropriate targets for therapeutic agents that inhibit or potentiate, respectively, these effects.
Climate-influenced changes in hydrology affect water-food-energy security that may impact up to two billion people downstream of the High Mountain Asia (HMA) region. Changes in water supply affect ...energy, industry, transportation, and ecosystems (agriculture, fisheries) and as a result, also affect the region's social, environmental, and economic fabrics. Sustaining the highly interconnected food-energy-water nexus (FEWN) will be a fundamental and increasing challenge under a changing climate regime. High variability in topography and distribution of glaciated and snow-covered areas in the HMA region, and scarcity of high resolution (
in-situ
) data make it difficult to model and project climate change impacts on individual watersheds. We lack basic understanding of the spatial and temporal variations in climate, surface impurities in snow and ice such as black carbon and dust that alter surface albedo, and glacier mass balance and dynamics. These knowledge gaps create challenges in predicting where and when the impact of changes in river flow will be the most significant economically and ecologically. In response to these challenges, the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) established the High Mountain Asia Team (HiMAT) in 2016 to conduct research to address knowledge gaps. This paper summarizes some of the advances HiMAT made over the past 5 years, highlights the scientific challenges in improving our understanding of the hydrology of the HMA region, and introduces an integrated assessment framework to assess the impacts of climate changes on the FEWN for the HMA region. The framework, developed under a NASA HMA project, links climate models, hydrology, hydropower, fish biology, and economic analysis. The framework could be applied to develop scientific understanding of spatio-temporal variability in water availability and the resultant downstream impacts on the FEWN to support water resource management under a changing climate regime.
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