Leptin and Remyelination

Leptin Promotes Proliferation of OPCs

Demyelination occurs in many diseases of the Central Nervous System (CNS) including Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson's Disease. Here researchers show that Leptin plays a role in the proliferation of Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells (OPCs): These cells are critical for keeping the myelin sheath on Neurons of the CNS healthy and happy.  Ken Matoba, Rieko Muramatsu & Toshihide Yamashita. Leptin sustains spontaneous remyelination in the adult central nervous system. Scientific Reports 7, Article number: 40397 (2017) doi:10.1038/srep40397.

Our LepRB Antibody is used in this study to stain OPCs.

Figures: (a) Representative image of cultured OPCs stained with antibodies against LepRb (green) and PDGFRα (red). Scale bar: 25 μm. (b) Relative BrdU incorporation into the OPC obtained from the brain (left graph) and spinal cord (right graph). Cells were treated with recombinant leptin for 48 h (n = 4). (Left graph) P = 0.005993 (control vs 10 ng/mL), 0.045616 (control vs 100 ng/mL), (Right graph) P = 0.004456 (control vs 10 ng/mL), 0.017859 (control vs 100 ng/mL). (c) Relative BrdU incorporation into the OPC after leptin stimulation (10 ng/ml) with U0126 (20 μM), a MEK inhibitor (n = 4 for brain OPCs, n = 3 for spinal cord OPCs). (Left graph) P = 0.019753 (control vs leptin), 0.039433 (leptin vs leptin + U0126), (Right graph) P = 0.045545 (control vs leptin), 0.04486 (leptin vs leptin + U0126). (d) Representative images of western blotting (upper panels) and quantitative analysis of ERK phosphorylation (lower graph) are shown. OPCs were treated with leptin (10 ng/ml) under indicated periods (n = 3). P = 0.006352 (2 min), 0.016571 (5 min), 0.017675 (10 min), 0.024100 (15 min), 0.081342 (30 min).

We are in the process of looking for Labs to sponsor Neuromics' to isolate and purify adult human OPCs in return for receiving 2,000,000 cells. Stay tuned.