Glial cell alterations in diabetes-induced neurodegeneration.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a global epidemic that due to its increasing prevalence worldwide will likely become the most common debilitating health condition. Even if diabetes is primarily a metabolic disorder, it is now well established that key aspects of the pathogenesis of diabetes are associated with nervous system alterations, including deleterious chronic inflammation of neural tissues, referred here as neuroinflammation, along with different detrimental glial cell responses to stress conditions and neurodegenerative features. Moreover, diabetes resembles accelerated aging, further increasing the risk of developing age-linked neurodegenerative disorders. As such, the most common and disabling diabetic comorbidities, namely diabetic retinopathy, peripheral neuropathy, and cognitive decline, are intimately associated with neurodegeneration. As described in aging and other neurological disorders, glial cell alterations such as microglial, astrocyte, and Müller cell increased reactivity and dysfunctionality, myelin loss and Schwann cell alterations have been broadly described in diabetes in both human and animal models, where they are key contributors to chronic noxious inflammation of neural tissues within the PNS and CNS. In this review, we aim to describe in-depth the common and unique aspects underlying glial cell changes observed across the three main diabetic complications, with the goal of uncovering shared glial cells alterations and common pathological mechanisms that will enable the discovery of potential targets to limit neuroinflammation and prevent neurodegeneration in all three diabetic complications. Diabetes and its complications are already a public health concern due to its rapidly increasing incidence, and thus its health and economic impact. Hence, understanding the key role that glial cells play in the pathogenesis underlying peripheral neuropathy, retinopathy, and cognitive decline in diabetes will provide us with novel therapeutic approaches to tackle diabetic-associated neurodegeneration.

Schwann cell JUN expression worsens motor performance in an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mouse model.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a devastating neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor neuron death and distal axonopathy. Despite its clinical severity and profound impact in the patients and their families, many questions about its pathogenesis remain still unclear, including the role of Schwann cells and axon-glial signaling in disease progression. Upon axonal injury, upregulation of JUN transcription factor promotes Schwann cell reprogramming into a repair phenotype that favors axon regrowth and neuronal survival. To study the potential role of repair Schwann cells on motoneuron survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, we generated a mouse line that over-expresses JUN in the Schwann cells of the SOD1G93A mutant, a mouse model of this disease. Then, we explored disease progression by evaluating survival, motor performance and histology of peripheral nerves and spinal cord of these mice. We found that Schwann cell JUN overexpression does not prevent axon degeneration neither motor neuron death in the SOD1G93A mice. Instead, it induces a partial demyelination of medium and large size axons, worsening motor performance and resulting in more aggressive disease phenotype.

Immune-stem cell crosstalk in the central nervous system: how oligodendrocyte progenitor cells interact with immune cells.

The interaction between immune and stem cells has proven essential for homeostasis and regeneration in a wide range of tissues. However, because the central nervous system was long considered an immune-privileged organ, its immune-stem cell axis was not deeply investigated until recently. Research has shown that oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), a highly abundant population of adult brain stem cells, establish bidirectional interactions with the immune system. Here, we provide an overview of the interactions that OPCs have with tissue-resident and recruited immune cells, paying particular attention to the role they play in myelin regeneration and neuroinflammation. We highlight the described role of OPCs as key active players in neuroinflammation, overriding the previous concept that OPCs are mere recipients of immune signals. Understanding the mechanisms behind this bidirectional interaction holds great potential for the development of novel therapeutic approaches limiting neuroinflammation and promoting myelin repair. A better understanding of the central nervous system's immune-stem cell axis will also be key for tackling two important features shared across neurodegenerative diseases, neuroinflammation and myelin loss.

Ageing impairs the regenerative capacity of regulatory T cells in mouse central nervous system remyelination.

Myelin regeneration (remyelination) is essential to prevent neurodegeneration in demyelinating diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, however, its efficiency declines with age. Regulatory T cells (Treg) recently emerged as critical players in tissue regeneration, including remyelination. However, the effect of ageing on Treg-mediated regenerative processes is poorly understood. Here, we show that expansion of aged Treg does not rescue age-associated remyelination impairment due to an intrinsically diminished capacity of aged Treg to promote oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination in male and female mice. This decline in regenerative Treg functions can be rescued by a young environment. We identified Melanoma Cell Adhesion Molecule 1 (MCAM1) and Integrin alpha 2 (ITGA2) as candidates of Treg-mediated oligodendrocyte differentiation that decrease with age. Our findings demonstrate that ageing limits the neuroregenerative capacity of Treg, likely limiting their remyelinating therapeutic potential in aged patients, and describe two mechanisms implicated in Treg-driven remyelination that may be targetable to overcome this limitation.