Overexpression of 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase in transgenic mice alters oligodendrocyte development and produces aberrant myelination.

The function of the intracellular protein 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNP) of oligodendrocytes (ODC) is unknown. We have now generated several homozygous transgenic mouse lines in which the human CNP gene is overexpressed up to sixfold, revealing new insights into early stages of myelinogenesis. Although no behavioral phenotype is immediately apparent, abnormalities of ODC and their myelin sheaths are striking. These are manifested as redundant myelin membrane and intramyelinic vacuoles, as well as lack of myelin compaction concordant with failure of the cytoplasmic leaflets of compact myelin to fuse. Further, ODC that overexpress CNP appear to mature earlier in development, resulting in earlier maximum gene expression for myelin basic proteins and proteolipid protein. These results indicate that CNP is an early expressed regulator of cellular events that culminate in CNS myelination.