Differential Expression of Collapsin Response Mediator Proteins (CRMP/ULIP) in Subsets of Oligodendrocytes in the Postnatal Rodent Brain

• Published in: Molecular and cellular neuroscience Vol. 16; no. 4; pp. 324 - 337
• Main Authors: Ricard, D., Stankoff, B., Bagnard, D., Aguera, M., Rogemond, V., Antoine, J.C., Spassky, N., Zalc, B., Lubetzki, C., Belin, M.F., Honnorat, J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.10.2000
• Subjects: Animals; Cell Separation; collapsin response mediator proteins; Corpus Callosum - cytology; Corpus Callosum - growth & development; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Glycoproteins - pharmacology; HeLa Cells; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; In Situ Hybridization; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; Lac Operon; Male; Mice; Mice, Transgenic; Nerve Tissue Proteins - analysis; Nerve Tissue Proteins - genetics; Oligodendroglia - chemistry; Oligodendroglia - cytology; Oligodendroglia - physiology; Optic Nerve - cytology; Optic Nerve - growth & development; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA, Messenger - analysis; Semaphorin-3A; Signal Transduction - drug effects; Signal Transduction - physiology; Spinal Cord - cytology; Spinal Cord - growth & development; Unc-33-like protein
• ISSN: 1044-7431; 1095-9327
• DOI: 10.1006/mcne.2000.0888

The family of collapsin response mediator protein/Unc-33-like protein (CRMP/Ulip), composed of four homologous members, is specifically and highly expressed in the nervous system during embryonic neuronal development and dramatically down-regulated in the adult. Members of this family have been proposed to be part of the semaphorins signal transduction pathway involved in axonal outgrowth. Here, we show by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry that CRMP2/Ulip2, and to a lesser extent CRMP3/Ulip4, are expressed in immature and mature oligodendrocytes, but not in astrocytes. Transcripts encoding the other CRMP/Ulip members are also detectable by RT-PCR in highly purified mature oligodendrocytes. Interestingly, in the adult, the protein CRMP2/Ulip2 is mainly detectable in subsets of oligodendrocytes distributed according to an increasing rostrocaudal gradient, with the largest number of positive cells being present in the brain stem and spinal cord. In cultures of highly purified oligodendrocytes, however, CRMP2/Ulip2 was detectable in all the cells. Addition of Sema3A in the culture medium completely inhibited the emergence of oligodendrocyte processes suggesting that, as in neurons, a Sema3A signaling pathway mediated via CRMP2/Ulip2 may be involved in the regulation of oligodendroglial process outgrowth.