Astrocyte-oligodendrocyte interaction regulates central nervous system regeneration

Abstract Failed regeneration of myelin around neuronal axons following central nervous system damage contributes to nerve dysfunction and clinical decline in various neurological conditions, for which there is an unmet therapeutic demand. Here, we show that interaction between glial cells – astrocytes and mature myelin-forming oligodendrocytes – is a determinant of remyelination. Using in vivo/ ex vivo/ in vitro rodent models, unbiased RNA sequencing, functional manipulation, and human brain lesion analyses, we discover that astrocytes support the survival of regenerating oligodendrocytes, via downregulation of the Nrf2 pathway associated with increased astrocytic cholesterol biosynthesis pathway activation. Remyelination fails following sustained astrocytic Nrf2 activation in focally-lesioned male mice yet is restored by either cholesterol biosynthesis/efflux stimulation, or Nrf2 inhibition using the existing therapeutic Luteolin. We identify that astrocyte-oligodendrocyte interaction regulates remyelination, and reveal a drug strategy for central nervous system regeneration centred on targeting this interaction

Reactive astrocytes acquire neuroprotective as well as deleterious signatures in response to Tau and Aß pathology

Funding Information: We thank Michel Goedert for the MAPTP301S mouse and Nathaniel Heintz for the Aldh1l1_eGFP-RPL10a mouse. This work was funded by the UK Dementia Research Institute (G.E.H., S.C.) which receives its funding from DRI Ltd, funded by the UK Medical Research Council, Alzheimer’s Society, and Alzheimer’s Research UK, the European Research Council (ERC) under the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant No. 681181, T.S.J.) and grant NIH P50 AG033514 (Project 1, J.A.J.).Peer reviewedPublisher PD