Accelerated Myelinogenesis by Dietary Lipids in Rat Brain
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Journal of Neurochemistry Lippincott—Raven Publishers, Philadelphia © 1996 International Society for Neurochemistry Accelerated Myelinogenesis by Dietary Lipids in Rat Brain Serafina Salvati, *Massjmo Sanchez, Lorenzo Malvezzi Campeggi, ~Gerda Suchanek, ~He1ene Breitschop, and ~Hans Lassmann Metabolism and Pathological Biochemistry and *Cellular Biology-Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, italy, and tAustrian Academy of Sciences and lInstitute ofNeurology, University Vienna, Vienna, Austria Abstract: Our previous work showed an early develop- Our previous studies have shown that when syn- ment of behavioral reflexes in rats whose mothers had thetic diets containing a lipid fraction derived from n- been fed, during pregnancy and lactation, a lipid fraction alkane—grown yeast (which contains 50% odd-chain extracted from yeast grown on n -alkanes (which contain fatty acids) are administered during pregnancy and 50% odd-chain fatty acids) in comparison with controls throughout lactation, behavioral development is accel- fed a margarine diet. To clarify whether the observed erated (Gozzo et al., 1978, 1981) and brain biochemis- changes might be linked to an early myelination, we have investigated mRNAs involved in myelin synthesis in the try and morphology are modified in the offspring (Sal- brains of offspring at 5 days of age by northern blot and vati et al., 1984). These data indicate that it is possible in situ hybridization. Northern blot analysis showed that that dietary lipids interfere with brain development and proteolipid protein (PLP) and myelin oligodendrocyte gly- accelerate some patterns of its maturation. coprotein (MOO) mRNAs were higher in animals on the To clarify if the observed behavioral modification lipid diet compared with controls. In situ hybridization in newborn rats is related to the accelerated myelino- with probes specific for PLP, myelin basic protein, and genesis, we investigated the effects of this diet on MOO mRNA showed significantly higher numbers of posi- mRNAs involved in myelin synthesis in the early post- tive cells in test animals compared with controls in all natal period. Knowledge of the factors that stimulate brain regions. This study shows an acceleration of myelin- the synthesis of myelin components is important both ogenesis induced by dietary lipids. These data can give to provide new insight into the myelinogenesis process a new insight in the therapeutical approaches involved to promote repair in demyelinating diseases. Key Words: and to be the basis for therapeutical approaches to Dietary lipids—Myelin gene expression—Develop- promote repair in demyelinating disorders. ment—Rat brain. -J. Neurochem. 67, 1744—1750 (1996). EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES Animals and diets During pregnancy and lactation, female Sprague—Dawley rats from Charles River Laboratories (Como, Italy) were fed synthethic diets containing casein 21%, rice starch 53%, sucrose 10%, salt mixture (AIN-76) 4%, vitamin mixture (AIN-76) 1%, cod liver oil 1%, margarine 9%, and corn oil Myelination is one of the major biological events 1%. In the test diet, the margarine and corn oil were replaced occurring during the development of the brain. Myelin by the lipid fraction obtained from yeast (Candida lypoli- formation in CNS occurs as the result of a coordinate tica) grown on n-alkanes. expression of a specific genetic program of the oligo- The composition of the lipid fraction extracted from hy- dendrocytes. The program can also be affected by drocarbon-grown yeast and the fatty acid contents of the two environmental factors; consequently, only the correct diets are shown in Tables 1 and 2. The litter size in each interaction of such factors makes the formation and group was culled to eight pups at birth. Three littermates maintenance of the myelin sheath possible. Among environmental factors, the important role of diet and, inparticular, of dietary lipids is becoming more evident Received February 9, 1996; revised manuscript received June 5, 1996; accepted June 5, 1996. (Yeh, 1988). Neonatal fat intake has been shown to Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. S. Salvati at influence and regulate myelin-specific mRNA levels. Laboratory of Metabolism and Pathological Biochemistry, Istituto In particular, a postnatal deficiency of essential fatty Superiore di Sanità, V. le Regina Elena, 299-00161 Rome, Italy. acids (EFAs) reduces myelin basic protein (MBP) and Abbreviations used: EFA, essential fatty acid; IGF-I, insulin-like growth factor I; MBP, myelin basic protein; MUG, myelin oligoden- proteolipid protein (PLP) mRNA levels in the brain drocyte glycoprotein; PLP, proteolipid protein; PUFA, polyunsatu- (DeWille and Farmer, 1992). rated fatty acid; SDS, sodium dodecyl sulfate. 1744 DIETARY LIPIDS AND MYELINATION 1745 The integrity of the RNA and the equal loading in each TABLE 1. Composition of lipidfraction lane were controlled with a glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate de- of microbial lipids hydrogenase probe. Fraction % of total In situ hybridization In situ hybridizationwas performed with a nonradioactive Steroids 2.7 Nonpolar lipids 14.0 system, using digoxigenin-labeled riboprobes. The technique Phospholipids 76.1 has been described in detail previously (Breitschopf et al., Other polar lipids 7.2 1992). In brief, the riboprobes used were generated from plasmids containing cDNA inserts specific for PLP (Milner et al., 1985), MBP (Mentaberri et al., 1986), and MOG (Gardinier et al., 1992). cRNA probes were synthesized by were killed by decapitation at 5 days of age. From every transcribing linearized plasmids in both directions using the appropriate RNA polymerases. The sense strand served as a litter, three brains were quickly removed, fixed in 4% para- negative control. After in situ hybridization, the sections formaldehyde in phospate-buffered saline (pH 7.4) for 3 h, were also stained with hematoxylin. and routinely embedded in paraffin. Brains from the re- maining five pups wereremoved and dissectedin the medulla Quantitative analysis of in situ hybridization oblongata, the cerebellum, and the cerebral cortex, and the A semiquantitative analysis of mRNA-containing cells isolated regions, pooled for each experiment, were quickly was performed in the upper portions of the cervical spinal processed for total RNA extraction. For the northern blot cord, the medulla oblongata, the deep cerebellar white mat- analysis, three independent experiments were performed. ter, the centrum semiovale, and the parietal cerebral cortex. The number of positive cells was determined in multiple DNA probes high-power fieldsof 0.0234 mm2 in each area. The following The following probes were used: cDNA encoding for rat scores from 0to4were used: 0, no cells positive; 1, one PLP in pGEM3 vector (Milner et al., 1985) and rat myelin cell positive; 2, one to five cells positive; 3, six to 20 cells oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) in pBSII vector (Gar- positive; 4, >20 cells positive. dinier et al., 1992). More detailed quantitative analysis was performed in the Bacteria strains containing plasmids were propagated un- central white matter of the cerebellum (around the dentate der standard culture conditions in LB medium. Supercoiled nucleus) and in the centrum semiovale. For the latter, stan- plasmid DNA was isolatedby standard alkaline-lysis proce- dardized serial sections at the level ofthe midthalamus were dures and processed with the appropriate restriction endonu- used. Ten high-power microscopic fields adjacent to the lat- cleases (Sambrook et al., 1989). eral ventricle between the lateral angle of the ventricle and The GAPDH probe was afull-length cDNA clone encod- the corpus callosum were analyzed. The number of in situ ing rat glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (Fort et hybridization positive cells was counted and recalculated as al., 1985). stained oligodendrocytes per square millimeter. The cDNA probes were labeled using a (Boehringer Statistical analysis was done using the statistical package Mannheim) random-primedDNA-labeling kit, following the StatView II for the Macintosh computer. The nonparametric manufacturer’s instructions. Unincorporated deoxyribonu- group test (Mann—Whitney U test) was used. cleoside triphosphates were removed by chromatography through Sephadex G50 columns (Pharmacia). RESULTS Northern blot hybridization Total cellular RNA was extracted from the medulla, the There were no significant differences in the body cerebellum, and the cerebral cortex obtained from rats at 5 and the brain weights between control and test rats. days of age as described previously (Chomczynski and Sac- Data, given as mean ±SD values from 15 animals, chi, 1987). Tissues were homogenized in Utraspec RNA (BiotecxLaboratories, Inc.,U.S.A.) and RNAs isolatedwere quantified by OD 2~.Equal amounts (20 jig/lane) of total TABLE 2. Fatty acid composition of the diets (%) RNA were denaturated and fractionated on a 1% agarose/ formaldehyde gel (Lehrach et al., 1977) and blotted onto an Fatty acids Margarine diet Test diet Amersham Hybond N nylon membrane. The RNAs were cross-linked to membrane by heating for 2 h at 80°C in 14:0 1.2 1.8 vacuo. 15:0 0.5 7.3 Prehybridization was performed using 500 mM sodium 16:0 16.7 10.5 phosphate, pH 7.2, 7% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), 1 16:1 (n-7) 2.3 7.4 17:0 0.7 3.4 mM EDTA, pH 8, for 1 h at 65°Cand then hybridized32P-in 17:1 (n-5) 1.5 29.2 thelabeledsame cDNA solutionusing for1.5 24 hor at 2 65°C>< 106to cpmrandom-primedof probe/ml of 17:2 (n-5) 0.3 12.8 hybridization buffer. After hybridization, the membranes 18:0 5.3 1.7 were washed three times briefly in 50 mM sodium phos- 18:1 (n-9) 28.1 11.9 phate, pH 7.2, 1% SDS. Washed filters were exposed to 18:2 (n-6) 41.4 11.4 Kronex Du Pont films with intensifying screens at —80°C. 18:3 (n-3) 2.0 2.6 Autoradiographs were scanned with a 2202 Ultrascan laser odd-chain 3.0 52.7 densitometer (LKB). J. Neurochem., Vol. 67, No. 4, 1996 1746 S. SALVATI ET AL. ment (Milner et al., 1985) is already detected in the medulla of the test group.