Deacetylate to differentiate any progenitor cell types start differentiation by turning on transcription. But on page 577, Shen et al. show that oligodendrocytes (OLs)—the myelin-forming cells of the nervous system—require a general transcriptional shutdown for differentiation. The transcriptional slowing is due to histone deacetylation, which compacts chromatin. The authors find that histone H...

Although plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) express major histocompatibility complex class II (MHCII) molecules, and can capture, process, and present antigens (Ags), direct demonstrations that they function as professional Ag-presenting cells (APCs) in vivo during ongoing immune responses remain lacking. We demonstrate that mice exhibiting a selective abrogation of MHCII expression by pDCs de...

Oligodendrocytes populate the nervous system in great numbers, and are vital to the protection of neurons due to their role in myelin production. Previously unrecognized as a unique cell type, oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) have now been identified via their expression of a specific marker antigen, NG2. In the following discussion, the characteristics of OPCs are elucidated within the c...

Voltage-gated K+ channels are localized to juxtaparanodal regions of myelinated axons. To begin to understand the role of normal compact myelin in this localization, we examined mKv1.1 and mKv1.2 expression in the dysmyelinating mouse mutants shiverer and Trembler. In neonatal wild-type and shiverer mice, the focal localization of both proteins in axon fiber tracts is similar, suggesting that c...

Oxidative stress contributes to pathology associated with inflammatory brain disorders and therapies that upregulate antioxidant pathways may be neuroprotective in diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Dimethyl fumarate, a small molecule therapeutic for multiple sclerosis, activates cellular antioxidant signaling pathways and may promote myelin preservation. However, it is still unclear what mec...

multiple sclerosis (ms) causes loss of the myelin sheath, which leads to loss of neurons. regeneration of myelin sheath stimulates axon regeneration and neurons’ survival. in this study, olfactory ensheathing cell (oec) transplantation is investigated to restore myelin sheath in an experimental model of ms in male mice.oecs were isolated from the olfactory mucosa of seven-day-old infant rats an...

Our group recently demonstrated that autoimmune T cells directed against central nervous system-associated myelin antigens protect neurons from secondary degeneration. We further showed that the synthetic peptide copolymer 1 (Cop-1), known to suppress experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, can be safely substituted for the natural myelin antigen in both passive and active immunization for n...

Neonatal exposure to Ag has always been considered suppressive for immunity. Recent investigations, however, indicated that the neonatal immune system could be guided to develop immunity. For instance, delivery of a proteolipid protein (PLP) peptide on Ig boosts the neonatal immune system to develop responses upon challenge with the PLP peptide later. Accordingly, mice given Ig-PLP at birth and...

PURPOSE To investigate the antigenic specificity of the immune neuroprotective mechanism that can protect retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) against death caused by high intraocular pressure (IOP). METHODS A unilateral increase in IOP was induced in rats by argon laser photocoagulation of the episcleral veins and limbal plexus. Rats with high IOP were immunized with glatiramer acetate (Cop-1, a sy...

There is much interest in therapeutic manipulation of cytokine responses in autoimmunity, yet studies in mouse models have sometimes produced conflicting findings as to the role of particular mediators in disease. Examples include the contradictory findings regarding susceptibility to experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) or diabetes in knockout mice for various individual Th1 or Th2 cy...