Administration of chinpi, a component of the herbal medicine ninjin-youei-to, reverses age-induced demyelination.

The disruption of myelin causes severe neurological diseases. An understanding of the mechanism of myelination and remyelination is essential for the development of therapeutic strategies for demyelination diseases. Our previous findings indicated that the FcRγ/Fyn cascade is a potential therapeutic target for remyelination caused by the Chinese/Japanese traditional herbal (Kampo) medicine ninjin'youeito (Ninjin-youei-to, NYT), which is a hot-water extract made from 12 medicinal herbs. To identify which constituents of NYT are involved in the reversal of demyelination and to examine the potential therapeutic effect, we tested several of the chemical constituents of NYT. Here, we report that Chinpi, a constituent of NYT, upregulates the FcRγ/Fyn signaling cascade resulting in a potentially therapeutic effect against age-induced demyelination. In addition, we observed that phosphorylated (activated) FcRγ/Fyn upregulated the expression of the 21.5 kDa isoform of myelin basic protein, inducing rapid morphological differentiation, when oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) were cultured in the presence of hesperidin and/or narirutin (the major active constituents of Chinpi). These results suggest that hesperidin and narirutin participate in the FcRγ/Fyn signaling pathway in OPCs causing these cells to differentiate into myelinating oligodendrocytes.

Phase separation of myelin sheath in Triton X-114 solution: predominant localization of the 21.5-kDa isoform of myelin basic protein in the lipid raft-associated domain.

Myelin basic protein (MBP) isoforms in the myelin sheath are known to have distinct intracellular expression patterns, which are profoundly related to functional specificity. Determining the differential localization of MBP isoforms is therefore important for understanding their pathophysiological roles. In this study, we have developed a new method for phase separation of myelin. The non-ionic detergent Triton X-114 is used to solubilize myelin sheath which then undergoes phase separation to yield four fractions. The lipid raft-associated proteins and lipids in each fraction were analysed by immunoblotting and lipid analysis, respectively. The present method gives two lipid raft-enriched fractions, one of them was found to contain only lipid raft-associated galactocerebroside and cholesterol as the major lipids. The 21.5-kDa MBP isoforms (21.5 MBP), both unphosphorylated and phosphorylated, were exclusively contained in this fraction. Phosphorylated 21.5 MBP (21.5 pMBP) has been shown to specifically disappear from demyelinated loci. The present analytical method clearly indicated that disappearance of 21.5 pMBP corresponded to demyelination and its reappearance corresponded to prevention of demyelination. Demyelination was also associated with aging and was prevented by the myelin-protecting herbal medicine, Chinpi, a type of dried citrus peel.