Open AccessCXCR7 Is Involved in Human Oligodendroglial Precursor Cell Maturation
Author(s) -
David Kremer,
QiaoLing Cui,
Peter Göttle,
Tanja Kuhlmann,
HansPeter Hartung,
Jack P. Antel,
Patrick Küry
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0146503
Subject(s) - remyelination , biology , cellular differentiation , microbiology and biotechnology , precursor cell , multiple sclerosis , endogeny , microglia , chemokine , neuroscience , central nervous system , cell , immunology , myelin , inflammation , genetics , endocrinology , gene
Differentiation of oligodendroglial precursor cells (OPCs), a crucial prerequisite for central nervous system (CNS) remyelination in diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS), is modulated by a multitude of extrinsic and intrinsic factors. In a previous study we revealed that the chemokine CXCL12 stimulates rodent OPC differentiation via activation of its receptor CXCR7. We could now demonstrate that CXCR7 is also expressed on NogoA- and Nkx2.2-positive oligodendroglial cells in human MS brains and that stimulation of cultured primary fetal human OPCs with CXCL12 promotes their differentiation as measured by surface marker expression and morphologic complexity. Pharmacological inhibition of CXCR7 effectively blocks these CXCL12-dependent effects. Our findings therefore suggest that a specific activation of CXCR7 could provide a means to promote oligodendroglial differentiation facilitating endogenous remyelination activities.