Brain-wide structural and functional disruption in mice with oligodendrocyte-specific Nf1 deletion is rescued by inhibition of nitric oxide synthase

Jad Asleh, Ben Shofty, Nadav Cohen, Alexandra Kavushansky, Alejandro López-Juárez, Shlomi Constantini, Nancy Ratner*, Itamar Kahn*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Neurofibromin gene (NF1) mutation causes neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a disorder in which brain white matter deficits identified by neuroimaging are common, yet of unknown cellular etiology. In mice, Nf1 loss in adult oligodendrocytes causes myelin decompaction and increases oligodendrocyte nitric oxide (NO) levels. Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitors rescue this pathology. Whether oligodendrocyte pathology is sufficient to affect brain-wide structure and account for NF1 imaging findings is unknown. Here we show that Nf1 gene inactivation in adult oligodendrocytes (Plp-Nf1fl/+ mice) results in a motor coordination deficit. Magnetic resonance imaging in awake mice showed that fractional anisotropy is reduced in Plp-Nf1fl/+ corpus callosum and that interhemispheric functional connectivity in the motor cortex is also reduced, consistent with disrupted myelin integrity. Furthermore, NOS-specific inhibition rescued both measures. These results suggest that oligodendrocyte defects account for aspects of brain dysfunction in NF1 that can be identified by neuroimaging and ameliorated by NOS inhibition.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)22506-22513
Number of pages8
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume117
Issue number36
DOIs
StatePublished - 8 Sep 2020

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and StrokeR01NS091037
Achelis Foundation
Israel Science Foundation770/17
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology

    Keywords

    • Connectome
    • NF1
    • Oligodendrocytes
    • Resting state

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