Developmental regulation of myelin-associated genes in the normal and the myelin deficient mutant rat.

Oligodendrocyte development and myelinogenesis, both in vivo and in vitro, are characterized by the sequential and coordinate expression of markers which participate in the differentiation of oligodendrocytes as a prerequisite for myelination. The myelin deficient (md) rat shows greatly reduced mRNA expression for several oligodendrocyte markers: glycerol phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH), myelin basic protein (MBP) and proteolipid protein (PLP). Brain GPDH mRNA levels are initially equivalent in md and unaffected littermates, but the mutant rats fail to display the normal developmental increase in gene expression. Immunostaining of brain tissue sections also reveals decreased expression of these oligodendrocyte markers. The number of oligodendrocytes containing GPDH-like immunoreactivity is reduced in mutant rats, and in general these cells appear morphologically less complex with shorter processes. However, the intensity of staining in many oligodendrocytes appears equivalent to that observed in unaffected rats. Expression of the neuronal marker, glutamic acid decarboxylase, and the astrocyte markers, glutamine synthetase and glial fibrillary acidic protein, are largely unaffected at either the mRNA or protein level. Mixed glial cultures prepared from the brains of neonatal male md rats possess fewer oligodendrocytes compared to cultures derived from unaffected littermates, and the temporal sequence of marker development is delayed. Although an abnormality in the PLP gene is suspected in the md rat, these findings document profound deficits in many oligodendrocyte gene products.