Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-5-2019

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This article has been peer reviewed. It is the author’s final published version in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, Volume 13, February 2019, Article number 14. First published by Frontiers Media.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2019.00014. Copyright © Zhang et al.

Abstract

Myelination, which occurs predominantly postnatally and continues throughout life, is important for proper neurologic function of the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). We have previously demonstrated that the combination therapy of fingolimod (FTY720) and transplanted neural stem cells (NSCs) had a significantly enhanced therapeutic effect on the chronic stage of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an animal model of CNS autoimmunity, compared to using either one of them alone. However, reduced disease severity may be secondary to the immunomodulatory effects of FTY720 and NSCs, while whether this therapy directly affects myelinogenesis remains unknown. To investigate this important question, we used three myelination models under minimal or non-inflammatory microenvironments. Our results showed that FTY720 drives NSCs to differentiate into oligodendrocytes and promotes myelination in an ex vivo brain slice culture model, and in the developing CNS of healthy postnatal mice in vivo. Elevated levels of neurotrophic factors, e.g., brain-derived neurotrophic factor and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, were observed in the CNS of the treated infant mice. Further, FTY720 and NSCs efficiently prolonged the survival and improved sensorimotor function of shiverer mice. Together, these data demonstrate a direct effect of FTY720, beyond its known immunomodulatory capacity, in NSC differentiation and myelin development as a novel mechanism underlying its therapeutic effect in demyelinating diseases.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

PubMed ID

30804753

Language

English

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