Survival of, and competition between, oligodendrocytes expressing different alleles of the Plp gene

Mutation of Proteolipid Protein 1 Gene: From Severe Hypomyelinating Leukodystrophy to Inherited Spastic Paraplegia

Pelizaeus–Merzbacher Disease (PMD) is an inherited leukodystrophy affecting the central nervous system (CNS)—a rare disorder that especially concerns males. Its estimated prevalence is 1.45–1.9 per 100,000 individuals in the general population. Patients affected by PMD exhibit a drastic reduction or absence of myelin sheaths in the white matter areas of the CNS. The Proteolipid Protein 1 (PLP1) gene encodes a transmembrane proteolipid protein. PLP1 is the major protein of myelin, and it plays a key role in the compaction, stabilization, and maintenance of myelin sheaths. Its function is predominant in oligodendrocyte development and axonal survival. Mutations in the PLP1 gene cause the development of a wide continuum spectrum of leukopathies from the most severe form of PMD for whom patients exhibit severe CNS hypomyelination to the relatively mild late-onset type 2 spastic paraplegia, leading to the concept of PLP1-related disorders. The genetic diversity and the biochemical complexity, along with other aspects of PMD, are discussed to reveal the obstacles that hinder the development of treatments. This review aims to provide a clinical and mechanistic overview of this spectrum of rare diseases.

Neural stem cells restore myelin in a demyelinating model of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease

Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease is a fatal X-linked leukodystrophy caused by mutations in the PLP1 gene, which is expressed in the CNS by oligodendrocytes. Disease onset, symptoms and mortality span a broad spectrum depending on the nature of the mutation and thus the degree of CNS hypomyelination. In the absence of an effective treatment, direct cell transplantation into the CNS to restore myelin has been tested in animal models of severe forms of the disease with failure of developmental myelination, and more recently, in severely affected patients with early disease onset due to point mutations in the PLP1 gene, and absence of myelin by MRI. In patients with a PLP1 duplication mutation, the most common cause of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease, the pathology is poorly defined because of a paucity of autopsy material. To address this, we examined two elderly patients with duplication of PLP1 in whom the overall syndrome, including end-stage pathology, indicated a complex disease involving dysmyelination, demyelination and axonal degeneration. Using the corresponding Plp1 transgenic mouse model, we then tested the capacity of transplanted neural stem cells to restore myelin in the context of PLP overexpression. Although developmental myelination and axonal coverage by endogenous oligodendrocytes was extensive, as assessed using electron microscopy (n = 3 at each of four end points) and immunostaining (n = 3 at each of four end points), wild-type neural precursors, transplanted into the brains of the newborn mutants, were able to effectively compete and replace the defective myelin (n = 2 at each of four end points). These data demonstrate the potential of neural stem cell therapies to restore normal myelination and protect axons in patients with PLP1 gene duplication mutation and further, provide proof of principle for the benefits of stem cell transplantation for other fatal leukodystrophies with 'normal' developmental myelination.

Cathepsin D deficiency delays central nervous system myelination by inhibiting proteolipid protein trafficking from late endosome/lysosome to plasma membrane

This study aimed to investigate the role of cathepsin D (CathD) in central nervous system (CNS) myelination and its possible mechanism. By using CathD knockout mice in conjunction with immunohistochemistry, immunocytochemistry and western blot assays, the myelination of the CNS and the development of oligodendrocyte lineage cells in vivo and in vitro were observed. Endocytosis assays, real-time-lapse experiments and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy were used to demonstrate the location and movement of proteolipid protein in oligodendrocyte lineage cells. In addition, the relevant molecular mechanism was explored by immunoprecipitation. The increase in Fluoromyelin Green staining and proteolipid protein expression was not significant in the corpus callosum of CathD-/- mice at the age of P11, P14 and P24. Proteolipid protein expression was weak at each time point and was mostly accumulated around the nucleus. The number of oligodendrocyte lineage cells (olig2+) and mature oligodendrocytes (CC1+) significantly decreased between P14 and P24. In the oligodendrocyte precursor cell culture of CathD-/- mice, the morphology of myelin basic protein-positive mature oligodendrocytes was simple while oligodendrocyte precursor cells showed delayed differentiation into mature oligodendrocytes. Moreover, more proteolipid protein gathered in late endosomes/lysosomes (LEs/Ls) and fewer reached the plasma membrane. Immunohistochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy analysis showed that CathD, proteolipid protein and VAMP7 could bind with each other, whereas VAMP7 and proteolipid protein colocalized with CathD in late endosome/lysosome. The findings of this paper suggest that CathD may have an important role in the myelination of CNS, presumably by altering the trafficking of proteolipid protein.

Proteolipid protein modulates preservation of peripheral axons and premature death when myelin protein zero is lacking

Protein zero (P0) is the major structural component of peripheral myelin. Lack of this adhesion protein from Schwann cells causes a severe dysmyelinating neuropathy with secondary axonal degeneration in humans with the neuropathy Dejerine-Sottas syndrome (DSS) and in the corresponding mouse model (P0(null)-mice). In the mammalian CNS, the tetraspan-membrane protein PLP is the major structural myelin constituent and required for the long-term preservation of myelinated axons, which fails in hereditary spastic paraplegia (SPG type-2) and the relevant mouse model (Plp(null)-mice). The Plp-gene is also expressed in Schwann cells but PLP is of very low abundance in normal peripheral myelin; its function has thus remained enigmatic. Here we show that the abundance of PLP but not of other tetraspan myelin proteins is strongly increased in compact peripheral myelin of P0(null)-mice. To determine the functional relevance of PLP expression in the absence of P0, we generated P0(null)*Plp(null)-double-mutant mice. Compared with either single-mutant, P0(null)*Plp(null)-mice display impaired nerve conduction, reduced motor functions, and premature death. At the morphological level, axonal segments were frequently non-myelinated but in a one-to-one relationship with a hypertrophic Schwann cell. Importantly, axonal numbers were reduced in the vital phrenic nerve of P0(null)*Plp(null)-mice. In the absence of P0, thus, PLP also contributes to myelination by Schwann cells and to the preservation of peripheral axons. These data provide a link between the Schwann cell-dependent support of peripheral axons and the oligodendrocyte-dependent support of central axons.

Axon-glial interaction in the CNS: what we have learned from mouse models of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease

In the central nervous system (CNS) the majority of axons are surrounded by a myelin sheath, which is produced by oligodendrocytes. Myelin is a lipid-rich insulating material that facilitates the rapid conduction of electrical impulses along the myelinated nerve fibre. Proteolipid protein and its isoform DM20 constitute the most abundant protein component of CNS myelin. Mutations in the PLP1 gene encoding these myelin proteins cause Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease and the related allelic disorder, spastic paraplegia type 2. Animal models of these diseases, particularly models lacking or overexpressing Plp1, have shed light on the interplay between axons and oligodendrocytes, and how one component influences the other.

Oligodendrocyte ablation affects the coordinated interaction between granule and Purkinje neurons during cerebellum development

Oligodendrocytes (OLs) are the glial cells of the central nervous system (CNS) classically known to be devoted to the formation of myelin sheaths around most axons of the vertebrate brain. We have addressed the role of these cells during cerebellar development, by ablating OLs in vivo. Previous analyses had indicated that OL ablation during the first six postnatal days results into a striking cerebellar phenotype, whose major features are a strong reduction of granule neurons and aberrant Purkinje cells development. These two cell types are highly interconnected during cerebellar development through the production of molecules that help their proliferation, differentiation and maintenance. In this article, we present data showing that OL ablation has major effects on the physiology of Purkinje (PC) and granule cells (GC). In particular, OL ablation results into a reduction of sonic hedgehog (Shh), Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), and Reelin (Rln) expression. These results indicate that absence of OLs profoundly alters the normal cerebellar developmental program.

Processing of PLP in a model of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease/SPG2 due to the rumpshaker mutation

The rumpshaker mutation of the X-linked myelin proteolipid protein (PLP1) gene causes spastic paraplegia type 2 or a mild form of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease in man. The identical mutation occurs spontaneously in mice. Both human and murine diseases are associated with dysmyelination. Using the mouse model, we show that the low steady state levels of PLP result from accelerated proteasomal degradation rather than decreased synthesis. The T(1/2) for degradation of rumpshaker PLP is 11 h compared with 23 h for wild type. A minority of newly synthesized PLP is incorporated into myelin in the correct orientation but at a reduced rate compared with wild type. However, inhibition of proteasomal degradation does not increase the level of PLP incorporated into myelin. As Plp null mice do not have a similar myelin deficiency, it is unlikely that the reduced PLP levels are the main cause of the dysmyelination. Rumpshaker oligodendrocytes also have a reduced level of other myelin proteins, such as MBP, although the mechanisms are not yet defined but are likely to operate at a translational or post-translational level.

PLP1-related inherited dysmyelinating disorders: Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease and spastic paraplegia type 2

Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD) and its allelic disorder, spastic paraplegia type 2 (SPG2), are among the best-characterized dysmyelinating leukodystrophies of the central nervous system (CNS). Both PMD and SPG2 are caused by mutations in the proteolipid protein 1 (PLP1) gene, which encodes a major component of CNS myelin proteins. Distinct types of mutations, including point mutations and genomic duplications and deletions, have been identified as causes of PMD/SPG2 that act through different molecular mechanisms. Studies of various PLP1 mutants in humans and animal models have shed light on the genomic, molecular, and cellular pathogeneses of PMD/SPG2. Recent discoveries include complex mutational mechanisms and associated disease phenotypes, novel cellular pathways that lead to the degeneration of oligodendrocytes, and genomic architectural features that result in unique chromosomal rearrangements. Here, I review the previous and current knowledge of the molecular pathogenesis of PMD/SPG2 and delineate future directions for PMD/SPG2 studies.