B. Stecca et al., The evolution of lipophilin genes from invertebrates to tetrapods: DM-20 cannot replace proteolipid protein in CNS myelin, J NEUROSC, 20(11), 2000, pp. 4002-4010
The proteolipid protein (PLP) gene encodes two myelin-specific protein isof
orms, DM-20 and PLP, which are members of the highly conserved lipophilin f
amily of transmembrane proteins. While the functions of this family are poo
rly understood, the fact that null mutations of the PLP gene cause leukodys
trophy in man is testament to the importance of DM-20 and PLP in normal CNS
function. PLP differs from DM-20 by the presence of a 35 amino acid domain
exposed to the cytoplasm, which is not encoded by other lipophilin genes a
nd appears to have arisen in amphibians similar to 300 million years before
present. However, the lipophilin gene family can be traced back at least 5
50 million years and is represented in Drosophila and silkworms. Thus, from
an evolutionary perspective PLP can reasonably be anticipated to perform f
unctions in CNS myelin that cannot be accomplished by other lipophilins. He
rein we use a novel knock-in strategy to generate mice expressing wild-type
levels of a Plp gene that has been modified to encode only DM-20. Although
DM-20 is incorporated into functional compact myelin sheaths in young anim
als, our data show that the 35 amino acid PLP-specific peptide is required
to engender the normal myelin period and to confer long-term stability on t
his multilamellar membrane.