Retinoid X Receptor activation reverses the age-related deficiency in myelin debris phagocytosis and enhances remyelination

ABSTRACT: The efficiency of central nervous system (CNS) remyelination declines with age. This is in part due to an age-associated decline in the phagocytic removal of myelin debris, which contains inhibitors of oligodendrocyte progenitor cell differentiation. In this study we show that expression of genes involved in the retinoid X receptor (RXR) pathway are decreased with aging in myelin-phagocytosing cells. Loss of RXR function in young macrophages mimics aging by delaying remyelination after experimentally-induced demyelination, while RXR agonists partially restore myelin debris phagocytosis in aged macrophages. The FDA-approved RXR agonist bexarotene, when used in concentrations achievable in human subjects, caused a reversion of the gene expression profile in aging human monocytes to a more y

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

SUBMITTER: Kory Johnson 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-66988 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress