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The Journal of Neuroscience, February 21, 2007, 27(8):1812-1823; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4441-06.2007

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Development/Plasticity/Repair
White Matter Plasticity and Enhanced Remyelination in the Maternal CNS

Christopher Gregg, Viktor Shikar, Peter Larsen, Gloria Mak, Andrew Chojnacki, V. Wee Yong, and Samuel Weiss

Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Departments of Cell Biology, and Anatomy and Clinical Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 4N1

Correspondence should be addressed to Samuel Weiss, 2263, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 4N1. Email: weiss{at}ucalgary.ca

Myelination, the process in which oligodendrocytes coat CNS axons with a myelin sheath, represents an important but poorly understood form of neural plasticity that may be sexually dimorphic in the adult CNS. Remission of multiple sclerosis during pregnancy led us to hypothesize that remyelination is enhanced in the maternal brain. Here we report an increase in the generation of myelin-forming oligodendrocytes and in the number of myelinated axons in the maternal murine CNS. Remarkably, pregnant mice have an enhanced ability to remyelinate white matter lesions. The hormone prolactin regulates oligodendrocyte precursor proliferation and mimics the regenerative effects of pregnancy. This suggests that maternal white matter plasticity imparts a striking ability to repair demyelination and identifies prolactin as a potential therapeutic agent.

Key words: remyelination; pregnancy; oligodendrocyte; proliferation; maternal; multiple sclerosis

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Received Aug. 24, 2006; revised Jan. 4, 2007; accepted Jan. 10, 2007.

Correspondence should be addressed to Samuel Weiss, 2263, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 4N1. Email: weiss{at}ucalgary.ca

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