title: Electrical stimulation promotes the survival of oligodendrocytes in mixed cortical cultures.
abstract: Oligodendrocyte (OLG) death plays a major role in white matter dysfunction and demyelination following injury to the CNS. Axonal contact, communication, and neuronal activity appear to promote OLG survival and function in cell culture and during development. The application of electrical stimulation to mixed neural cultures has been shown to promote OLG differentiation and the formation of myelin in vitro. Here we show that OLG viability can be significantly enhanced in mixed cortical cultures by applying biphasic pulses of electrical stimulation (ESTIM). Enhanced survival via ESTIM requires the presence of neurons and is suppressed by inhibition of voltage-gated sodium channels. Additionally, contact between the axon and OLG is necessary for ESTIM to promote OLG survival. This report suggests that patterned neuronal activity could repress delayed progression of white matter injury and promote CNS repair in neurological conditions that involve white matter damage.
authors.affiliation: The International Center for Spinal Cord Injury, Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA. gary@kennedykrieger.org.
authors.forename: Devin S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Gary
authors.forename: Misti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malone
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Capestany
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Houdayer
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: McDonald
mesh_terms: D000590:Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones / Q000494:pharmacology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D001703:Biophysics; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine / Q000378:metabolism; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D002452:Cell Count; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005698:Galactosylceramidase / Q000378:metabolism; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D011509:Proteoglycans / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013234:Stem Cells; D013779:Tetrodotoxin / Q000494:pharmacology; D000099216:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycan 4
chemical_list: D000590:Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones; D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D000941:Antigens; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine; D053148:Caspase 3; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors; D005698:Galactosylceramidase; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase; D011509:Proteoglycans; D013779:Tetrodotoxin; D000099216:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycan 4; C096713:benzyloxycarbonylvalyl-alanyl-aspartyl fluoromethyl ketone