Distribution of myelin lipid antigens in adult and developing rat spinal cord

Cell polarity in myelinating glia: from membrane flow to diffusion barriers

Myelin-forming glia are highly polarized cells that synthesize as an extension of their plasma membrane, a multilayered myelin membrane sheath, with a unique protein and lipid composition. In most cells polarity is established by the polarized exocytosis of membrane vesicles to the distinct plasma membrane domains. Since myelin is composed of a stack of tightly packed membrane layers that do not leave sufficient space for the vesicular trafficking, we hypothesize that myelin does not use polarized exocytosis as a primary mechanism, but rather depends on lateral transport of membrane components in the plasma membrane. We suggest a model in which vesicle-mediated transport is confined to the cytoplasmic channels, from where transport to the compacted areas occurs by lateral flow of cargo within the plasma membrane. A diffusion barrier that is formed by MBP and the two adjacent cytoplasmic leaflets of the myelin bilayers acts a molecular sieve and regulates the flow of the components. Finally, we highlight potential mechanism that may contribute to the assembly of specific lipids within myelin. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Lipids and Vesicular Transport.

P25?/Tubulin polymerization promoting protein expression by myelinating oligodendrocytes of the developing rat brain

P25alpha/tubulin polymerization promoting protein (TPPP) is a brain specific phosphoprotein that displays microtubule bundling activity. In the mature brain, p25alpha/TPPP distributes to oligodendrocytes and choroid plexus epithelium. We mapped the spatial and temporal distribution of p25alpha/TPPP in the developing rat brain. Having localized its expression to neuronal tissue by Western blot analyses, the distribution of p25alpha/TPPP to developing oligodendrocytes was confirmed using a specific antibody. In the pre-natal and post-natal brain, p25alpha/TPPP was localized to the perinuclear cytoplasm of myelinating oligodendrocytes from embryonic (E) day E20 as verified from cellular co-localization with 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNP). Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells and pre-myelinating oligodendrocytes identified by the expression of NG2 proteoglycan and CD9, respectively, both failed to contain p25alpha/TPPP. In contrast, P25alpha/TPPP co-localized with beta(IV)-tubulin from post-natal (p) day P10 suggesting that p25alpha/TPPP plays an important role for tubulin-related transport in developing, myelinating oligodendrocytes.

Spinal cord dysmyelination induced in vivo by IgM antibodies to three different myelin glycolipids

It was shown previously (Rosenbluth et al.: J. Neurosci. 16:2635-2641, 1996) that implantation of hybridoma cells that produce an IgM antigalactocerebroside into the spinal cord of young rats results in the development of myelin sheaths with a repeat period approximately 2-3x normal, similar to the abnormal peripheral myelin sheaths seen in human IgM gammopathies. We now present evidence that this effect can be reproduced in the spinal cord by implanting either of two other hybridomas, O4 and A2B5, that secrete, respectively, antisulfatide and antiganglioside IgM antibodies. The formation of expanded CNS myelin thus does not depend on antibodies to galactocerebroside specifically but can be mediated by IgM antibodies that react with other myelin glycolipids as well.

Myelin structure in proteolipid protein (PLP)-null mouse spinal cord

Fixed preparations of proteolipid protein (PLP)-null mouse spinal cord show myelin sheaths which in some regions consist of typical alternating major dense lines (MDLs) and intermediate lines (ILs) with a repeat period of 10.3 nm. More commonly, the lamellar structure consists of what appears to be a single population of dense lines, having a repeat period of 5.2 nm. These apparently equivalent lines are, however, sometimes distinguishable as MDLs or ILs based on continuity with cytoplasmic or extracellular regions. Focal separations of lamellae at the intermediate line are common. MDLs too may be replaced focally by cytoplasmic pockets, sometimes in the same quadrant over several lamellae, resembling Schmidt-Lanterman clefts. Occasional densities reminiscent of the "radial component" can be seen. Otherwise, this structure, which is prominent in wild-type myelin, is conspicuously absent. Redundant folding of some lamellae but not others may occur in the same sheath. These observations conform to those made previously on the isolated myelin segments that occur in the myelin-deficient rat central nervous system (CNS), which also lacks PLP. Thus, a compact lamellar structure can be seen in fixed PLP-null myelin, but defects in the apposition of both the extracellular and the cytoplasmic surfaces of the myelin membranes are common. The abnormalities seen suggest a lack of firm intermembrane bonding, resulting in structural instability. PLP-null myelin may therefore be more susceptible than normal myelin to disruption by mechanical or osmotic stresses. Although PLP is not essential for the formation of either major dense lines or intermediate lines, it may play a role in stabilizing the compact structure.

Paranodal structural abnormalities in rat CNS myelin developing in vivo in the presence of implanted O1 hybridoma cells

O1 hybridoma cells, which produce a monoclonal IgM antigalactocerebroside, were implanted into the spinal cords of immature and mature rats and the cords examined 5-24 days later. Study of the younger group, in which myelin was developing at the time of implantation, revealed examples of abnormal myelin sheaths in which the repeat period was markedly increased. The paranodal regions of these abnormal sheaths were superficially normal in configuration; i.e. myelin lamellae terminated one by one as 'terminal loops' that indented the axolemma and formed normal axoglial junctions displaying periodic 'transverse bands'. Neighbouring terminal loops are normally joined by tight junctions that block passage of tracers from the paranodal periaxonal space into the compact myelin, as seen after implantation of a control hybridoma. In the abnormal sheaths that developed after O1 implantation, in contrast, terminal loops were usually widely separated from each other. As a result, multiple pathways from the paranodal periaxonal space into the myelin sheath remained patent, forming potential routes for shunting nodal action currents. This subtle abnormality could thus compromise conduction, even though the sheaths might appear to be normally myelinated at the histological level. Equivalent abnormalities in human neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis and paraproteinemic neuropathies, could underlie functional loss in the absence of frank demyelination.