Axons modulate the expression of proteolipid protein in the CNS.

We examined the expression of mRNA encoding proteolipid protein (PLP), the major myelin protein in the CNS, in developing rat cerebrum, and in normal and degenerating optic nerves. PLP transcripts were initiated at two clusters of start sites that were separated by about 30 base pairs. During the peak of PLP mRNA expression in developing cerebrum, a higher proportion of PLP transcripts were initiated from the distal start site, furthest from the open reading frame, than in mature cerebrum. We enucleated one eye of immature rats to cause Wallerian degeneration in the optic nerve. In these degenerating optic nerves, the steady state levels of PLP mRNA fell markedly, and the proportion of distally initiated PLP transcripts declined to the same proportion found in normal adult nerves. Changes in myelin gene expression were not limited to PLP mRNA, as the steady-state levels of myelin basic protein (MBP) mRNA paralleled those of PLP mRNA in the developing cerebrum and in degenerating optic nerves. Thus, oligodendrocytes require axons to maintain their normal levels of PLP and MBP transcripts and the high proportion of distally initiated PLP transcripts that characterize early myelination.