A critical role for miR-184 in the fate determination of oligodendrocytes

BACKGROUND: New insights on cellular and molecular aspects of both oligodendrocyte (OL) differentiation and myelin synthesis pathways are potential avenues for developing a cell-based therapy for demyelinating disorders comprising multiple sclerosis. MicroRNAs (miRNA) have broad implications in all aspects of cell biology including OL differentiation. MiR-184 has been identified as one of the most highly enriched miRNAs in oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs). However, the exact molecular mechanism of miR-184 in OL differentiation is yet to be elucidated. METHODS AND RESULTS: Based on immunochemistry assays, qRT-PCR, and western blotting findings, we hypothesized that overexpression of miR-184 in either neural progenitor cells (NPCs) or embryonic mouse cortex stimulated the differentiation of OL lineage efficiently through regulating crucial developmental genes. Luciferase assays demonstrated that miR-184 directly represses positive regulators of neural and astrocyte differentiation, i.e., SOX1 and BCL2L1, respectively, including the negative regulator of myelination, LINGO1. Moreover, blocking the function of miR-184 reduced the number of committed cells to an OL lineage. CONCLUSIONS: Our data highlighted that miR-184 could promote OL differentiation even in the absence of exogenous growth factors and propose a novel strategy to improve the efficacy of OL differentiation, with potential applications in cell therapy for neurodegenerative diseases. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13287-019-1208-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.