Zhao Shufang, Hu Xuemei, Park Jinsil, Zhu Ying, Zhu Qiang, Li Hong, Luo Chen, Han Ruifa, Cooper Nigel, Qiu Mengsheng
College of Life Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Dev Dyn. 2007 Sep;236(9):2708-12. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.21283.
Oligodendrocytes form myelin sheaths around axons in the central nervous system. Although cholesterol is one of the major lipid components in myelin sheath, the source of cholesterol for myelination remains to be defined. In this study, we report that low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and very low-density lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR) are selectively expressed in mature myelinating oligodendrocytes in the postnatal CNS. Both receptors are specifically expressed in differentiated oligodendrocytes in P7 spinal cord, but progressively down-regulated after P15. In adult animals, only LDLR expression can be detected in a small number of oligodendrocytes throughout the entire spinal cord. In the brain region, LDLR is expressed by the white matter oligodendrocytes of both cerebellum and cerebral cortex, whereas VLDLR has a weak expression in cerebellar oligodendrocytes. Together, our expression studies suggest that cholesterol uptake by LDLR and VLDLR may play an important role in the formation of myelin sheath.
少突胶质细胞在中枢神经系统中围绕轴突形成髓鞘。尽管胆固醇是髓鞘的主要脂质成分之一，但髓鞘形成过程中胆固醇的来源仍有待确定。在本研究中，我们报告低密度脂蛋白受体（LDLR）和极低密度脂蛋白受体（VLDLR）在出生后中枢神经系统成熟的髓鞘形成少突胶质细胞中选择性表达。两种受体在P7脊髓中分化的少突胶质细胞中特异性表达，但在P15后逐渐下调。在成年动物中，在整个脊髓中仅能在少数少突胶质细胞中检测到LDLR表达。在脑区，LDLR在小脑和大脑皮质的白质少突胶质细胞中表达，而VLDLR在小脑少突胶质细胞中表达较弱。总之，我们的表达研究表明，LDLR和VLDLR摄取胆固醇可能在髓鞘形成中起重要作用。
