T. Kagawa et al., IMMUNE SYSTEM-RELATED CD9 IS EXPRESSED IN MOUSE CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM MYELIN AT A VERY LATE-STAGE OF MYELINATION, Journal of neuroscience research, 50(2), 1997, pp. 312-320
CD9 is a tetra-membrane-spanning glycoprotein involved in cell adhesio
n, migration, and proliferation in both the immune and the immature ne
rvous system. In this study, CD9 expression was detected in myelin of
mouse brain, starting at postnatal day 16. The amount of CD9 protein c
ontinuously increased with age and persisted in the adult brain. It ap
peared later than myelin proteolipid protein (PLP), a typical late mye
lin marker. Mature oligodendrocytes were abundant in CD9, although it
was also detected in astrocytes and microglial cells in vitro. CD9 app
eared at the end of the myelination process and was localized along th
e outermost membrane of compact myelin. CD9 is known to associate with
integrins, which are candidate receptors for extracellular matrix and
transmit extracellular signals into the cells. Taken together, CD9 at
the surface of central nervous system (CNS) mature myelin may have a
unique function to facilitate signal transduction and enhance myelin m
embrane adhesion to extracellular matrices at very late stages of deve
lopment. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.