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During pregnancy, changes in circulating levels of hormones, including estrogens, correlates with a significant decrease in the relapse incidence in women with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). In the present study, we demonstrate that both primary and cell line cultures of rat oligodendrocytes express the estrogen receptor (ER)-α and ERβ estrogen receptors in the cytosol and nucleus, and that nuclear compartmentalization becomes more pronounced as the cells mature. Moreover, 17β-estradiol significantly decreases the cytotoxic effects of the peroxynitrite generator 3-(4-morpholinyl)-sydnonimine (SIN-1) in both immature and mature oligodendrocytes in a dose dependent manner. This protective mechanism requires pretreatment with 17β-estradiol and is blocked by ICI 182,780, a selective ERα/ERβ antagonist. These results strongly suggest that 17β-estradiol protects oligodendrocytes against SIN-1 mediated cytotoxicity through the activation of the estrogen receptors and provides new insights into the roles of the estrogen signaling pathways in myelin forming cells that are lost in demyelinating disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an abstract of the study "The Role of Ephs and Ephrins in the Development of Oligodendrocytes," by Rick I. Cohen and colleagues, which will be presented at the 30th annual meeting of the American Society for Neurochemistry to be held from March 14-17, 1999 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The researchers analyzed the expression pattern of several genes from oligodendrocyte precursors using Microarray analysis in order to understand molecular mechanisms stimulated by IGF- 1.