Cannabinoid CB1 receptor gene inactivation in oligodendrocyte precursors disrupts oligodendrogenesis and myelination in mice
Aníbal Sánchez-De La Torre, Tania Aguado, Alba Huerga-Gómez, Silvia Santamaría Santamaría, Antonietta Gentile, Juan Carlos Chara, Carlos Matute, Krisztina Monory, Susana Mato, Manuel Guzmán, Beat Lutz, Ismael Galve‐Roperh, Javier Palazuelos
Abstract
Abstract Cannabinoids are known to modulate oligodendrogenesis and developmental CNS myelination. However, the cell-autonomous action of these compounds on oligodendroglial cells in vivo, and the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects have not yet been studied. Here, by using oligodendroglial precursor cell (OPC)-targeted genetic mouse models, we show that cannabinoid CB 1 receptors exert an essential role in modulating OPC differentiation at the critical periods of postnatal myelination. We found that selective genetic inactivation of CB 1 receptors in OPCs in vivo perturbs oligodendrogenesis and postnatal myelination by altering the RhoA/ROCK signaling pathway, leading to hypomyelination, and motor and cognitive alterations in young adult mice. Conversely, pharmacological CB 1 receptor activation, by inducing E3 ubiquitin ligase-dependent RhoA proteasomal degradation, promotes oligodendrocyte development and CNS myelination in OPCs, an effect that was not evident in OPC-specific CB 1 receptor-deficient mice. Moreover, pharmacological inactivation of ROCK in vivo overcomes the defects in oligodendrogenesis and CNS myelination, and behavioral alterations found in OPC-specific CB 1 receptor-deficient mice. Overall, this study supports a cell-autonomous role for CB 1 receptors in modulating oligodendrogenesis in vivo, which may have a profound impact on the scientific knowledge and therapeutic manipulation of CNS myelination by cannabinoids.