Strength of ERK1/2 MAPK Activation Determines Its Effect on Myelin and Axonal Integrity in the Adult CNS

Autor: Rashmi Bansal, Miki Furusho, Akihiro Ishii, Jeffrey L. Dupree
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
0301 basic medicine
Central Nervous System
Male
RNA
Untranslated

MAP Kinase Signaling System
Central nervous system
Motor Disorders
Schwann cell
Mice
Transgenic

Biology
Motor Activity
2'
3'-Cyclic-nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase

03 medical and health sciences
Myelin
Mice
0302 clinical medicine
2'
3'-Cyclic Nucleotide 3'-Phosphodiesterase

medicine
Demyelinating disease
Animals
Muscle Strength
Remyelination
Myelin Proteolipid Protein
Myelin Sheath
Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases
General Neuroscience
TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases
Age Factors
Articles
medicine.disease
Oligodendrocyte
Axons
Myelin proteolipid protein
Oligodendroglia
030104 developmental biology
medicine.anatomical_structure
nervous system
Animals
Newborn

Gene Expression Regulation
Female
Neuroscience
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Zdroj: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 36(24)
ISSN: 1529-2401
Popis: Myelin growth is a tightly regulated process driven by multiple signals. ERK1/2-MAPK signaling is an important regulator of myelin thickness. Because, in demyelinating diseases, the myelin formed during remyelination fails to achieve normal thickness, increasing ERK1/2 activity in oligodendrocytes is of obvious therapeutic potential for promoting efficient remyelination. However, other studies have suggested that increased levels of ERK1/2 activity could, in fact, have detrimental effects on myelinating cells. Because the strength, duration, or timing of ERK1/2 activation may alter the biological outcomes of cellular responses markedly, here, we investigated the effect of modulating ERK1/2 activity in myelinating cells using transgenic mouse lines in which ERK1/2 activation was upregulated conditionally in a graded manner. We found enhanced myelin gene expression and myelin growth in the adult CNS at both moderate and hyperactivated levels of ERK1/2 when upregulation commenced during developmental myelination or was induced later during adulthood in quiescent preexisting oligodendrocytes, after active myelination is largely terminated. However, a late onset of demyelination and axonal degeneration occurred at hyperelevated, but not moderately elevated, levels regardless of the timing of the upregulation. Similarly, myelin and axonal pathology occurred with elevated ERK1/2 activity in Schwann cells. We conclude that a fine tuning of ERK1/2 signaling strength is critically important for normal oligodendrocyte and Schwann cell function and that disturbance of this balance has negative consequences for myelin and axonal integrity in the long term. Therefore, therapeutic modulation of ERK1/2 activity in demyelinating disease or peripheral neuropathies must be approached with caution. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT ERK1/2-MAPK activation in oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells is an important signal for promoting myelin growth during developmental myelination. Here, we show that, when ERK1/2 are activated in mature quiescent oligodendrocytes during adulthood, new myelin growth is reinitiated even after active myelination is terminated, which has implications for understanding the mechanism underlying plasticity of myelin in adult life. Paradoxically, simply increasing the “strength” of ERK1/2 activation changed the biological outcome from beneficial to detrimental, adversely affecting myelin and axonal integrity in both the CNS and PNS. Therefore, this study highlights the complexity of ERK1/2-MAPK signaling in the context of oligodendrocyte and Schwann cell function in the adult animal and emphasizes the need to approach potential therapeutic modulation of ERK1/2 activity with caution.
Databáze: OpenAIRE