Accelerated repair of demyelinated CNS lesions in the absence of non-muscle myosin IIB

The oligodendrocyte (OL), the myelinating cell of the central nervous system, undergoes dramatic changes in the organization of its cytoskeleton as it differentiates from a precursor (oligodendrocyte precursor cells) to a myelin-forming cell. These changes include an increase in its branching cell processes, a phenomenon necessary for OL to myelinate multiple axon segments. We have previously shown that levels and activity of non-muscle myosin II (NMII), a regulator of cytoskeletal contractility, decrease as a function of differentiation and that inhibition of NMII increases branching and myelination of OL in coculture with neurons. We have also found that mixed glial cell cultures derived from NMIIB knockout mice display an increase in mature myelin basic protein-expressing OL compared with wild-type cultures. We have now extended our studies to investigate the role of NMIIB ablation on myelin repair following focal demyelination by lysolecithin. To this end, we generated an oligodendrocyte-specific inducible knockout model using a Plp-driven promoter in combination with a temporally activated CRE-ER fusion protein. Our data indicate that conditional ablation of NMII in adult mouse brain, expedites lesion resolution and remyelination by Plp+ oligodendrocyte-lineage cells when compared with that observed in control brains. Taken together, these data validate the function of NMII as that of a negative regulator of OL myelination in vivo and provide a novel target for promoting myelin repair in conditions such as multiple sclerosis

Epigenetic Modulation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Differentiation to Oligodendrocytes

Pluripotent stem cells provide an invaluable tool for generating human, disease-relevant cells. Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system, characterized by myelin damage. Oligodendrocytes are the myelinating cells of the central nervous system (CNS); they differentiate from progenitor cells, and their membranes ensheath axons, providing trophic support and allowing fast conduction velocity. The current understanding of oligodendrocyte biology was founded by rodent studies, where the establishment of repressive epigenetic marks on histone proteins, followed by activation of myelin genes, leads to lineage progression. To assess whether this epigenetic regulation is conserved across species, we differentiated human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells to oligodendrocytes and asked whether similar histone marks and relative enzymatic activities could be detected. The transcriptional levels of enzymes responsible for methylation and acetylation of histone marks were analyzed during oligodendrocyte differentiation, and the post-translational modifications on histones were detected using immunofluorescence. These studies showed that also in human cells, differentiation along the oligodendrocyte lineage is characterized by the acquisition of multiple repressive histone marks, including deacetylation of lysine residues on histone H3 and trimethylation of residues K9 and K27. These data suggest that the epigenetic modulation of oligodendrocyte identity is highly conserved across species