CELL-CELL INTERACTIONS DURING THE MIGRATION OF MYELIN-FORMING CELLS TRANSPLANTED IN THE DEMYELINATED SPINAL-CORD

In the present paper, Dil-labeled myelin-forming cells were traced aft er their transplantation at a distance from a lysolecithin induced les ion in the adult wildtype and shiverer mouse spinal cord. Optical and ultrastructural observations indicate that after their transplantation , Dil-labeled Schwann cells and oligodendrocyte progenitors were found at the level of the graft as well as at the level of the lesion thus confirming that myelin-forming cells were able to migrate in the adult lesioned CNS (Gout et al., Neurosci Lett 87:195-199, 1988). Between t he graft and the lesion, labeled Schwann cells and oligodendrocyte pro genitors were absent in the gray matter, but were found as previously described, in specific locations (Baron-Van Evercooren et al., J Neuro sci Res 35:428-438, 1993; Vignais et al., J Dev Neurosci 11:603-612, 1 993). Both cell. types were found along blood vessel walls and more pr ecisely in the Virchow-Robin perivascular spaces. They were identified in the meninges among meningeal cells, collagen fibers, or occasional ly in direct contact with the basement membrane forming the glia limit ans. In addition to these findings, three major observations were made . In the ependymal region, myelin-forming cells were localized between or at the basal pole of ependymocytes. While Dil-labeled oligodendroc yte progenitors were noted to migrate along the outer surface of myeli n sheats in CNS wild-type and shiverer white matter, Schwann cells wer e excluded from this structure in the wild-type mouse spinal cord. Mor eover, in the shiverer mouse, migrating Schwann cells did not seem to interact directly with myelin sheats nor with mature oligodendrocytes. Finally, both cell types were seen to invade extensively the spinal p eripheral roots. Our ultrastructural observations clearly suggest that multiple cell-cell and cell-substrate interactions rule the migration of myelin-forming cells in the adult CNS infering that multiple mecha nisms are involved in this process. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.