ABCA1/ApoE/HDL Signaling Pathway Facilitates Myelination and Oligodendrogenesis after Stroke

ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) plays an important role in the regulation of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and the biogenesis of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in the mammalian brain. Cholesterol is a major source for myelination. Here, we investigate whether ABCA1/ApoE/HDL contribute to myelin repair and oligodendrogenesis in the ischemic brain after stroke. Specific brain ABCA1-deficient (ABCA1(-B/-B)) and ABCA1-floxed (ABCA1(fl/fl)) control mice were subjected to permanent distal middle-cerebral-artery occlusion (dMCAo) and were intracerebrally administered (1) artificial mouse cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as vehicle control, (2) human plasma HDL3, and (3) recombined human ApoE2 starting 24 h after dMCAo for 14 days. All stroke mice were sacrificed 21 days after dMCAo. The ABCA1(-B/-B)–dMCAo mice exhibit significantly reduced myelination and oligodendrogenesis in the ischemic brain as well as decreased functional outcome 21 days after stroke compared with ABCA1(fl/fl) mice; administration of human ApoE2 or HDL3 in the ischemic brain significantly attenuates the deficits in myelination and oligodendrogenesis in ABCA1(-B/-B)–dMCAo mice ( p < 0.05, n = 9/group). In vitro, ABCA1(-B/-B) reduces ApoE expression and decreases primary oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) migration and oligodendrocyte maturation; HDL3 and ApoE2 treatment significantly reverses ABCA1(-B/-B)-induced reduction in OPC migration and oligodendrocyte maturation. Our data indicate that the ABCA1/ApoE/HDL signaling pathway contributes to myelination and oligodendrogenesis in the ischemic brain after stroke.