Multiple Sclerosis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Multiple Sclerosis, including details on diagnosis, symptoms, treatment, prognosis.

TROY and LINGO-1 expression in astrocytes and macrophages/microglia in multiple sclerosis lesions.

Satoh J, Tabunoki H, Yamamura T, Arima K, Konno H

Department of Bioinformatics, Meiji Pharmaceutical University, Tokyo, Japan. satoj@my-pharm.ac.jp

Nogo constitutes a family of neurite outgrowth inhibitors contributing to a failure of axonal regeneration in the adult central nervous system (CNS). Nogo-A is expressed exclusively on oligodendrocytes where Nogo-66 segment binds to Nogo receptor (NgR) expressed on neuronal axons. NgR signalling requires a coreceptor p75(NTR) or TROY in combination with an adaptor LINGO-1. To characterize the cell types expressing the NgR complex in the human CNS, we studied demyelinating lesions of multiple sclerosis (MS) brains by immunohistochemistry. TROY and LINGO-1 were identified in subpopulations of reactive astrocytes, macrophages/microglia and neurones but not in oligodendrocytes. TROY was up-regulated, whereas LINGO-1 was reduced in MS brains by Western blot. These results suggest that the ternary complex of NgR/TROY/LINGO-1 expressed on astrocytes, macrophages/microglia and neurones, by interacting with Nogo-A on oligodendrocytes, might modulate glial-neuronal interactions in demyelinating lesions of MS.

Published 22 January 2007 in Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol, 33(1): 99-107.
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