Shocking Proteins in Astrocyte in white matter demyelination

Peferoen LA, Gerritsen WH, Breur M, Ummenthum KM, Peferoen-Baert RM, van der Valk P, van Noort JM, Amor S. Small heat shock proteins are induced during multiple sclerosis lesion development in white but not grey matter. Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2015 Dec 22;3(1):87.

INTRODUCTION:The important protective role of small heat-shock proteins (HSPs) in regulating cellular survival and migration, counteracting protein aggregation, preventing apoptosis, and regulating inflammation in the central nervous system is now well-recognized. Yet, their role in the neuroinflammatory disorder multiple sclerosis (MS) is largely undocumented. With the exception of alpha B-crystallin (HSPB5), little is known about the roles of small HSPs in disease.
RESULTS: Here, we examined the expression of four small HSPs during lesion development in MS, focussing on their cellular distribution, and regional differences between white matter (WM) and grey matter (GM). It is well known that MS lesions in these areas differ markedly in their pathology, with substantially more intense blood-brain barrier damage, leukocyte infiltration and microglial activation typifying WM but not GM lesions. We analysed transcript levels and protein distribution profiles for HSPB1, HSPB6, HSPB8 and HSPB11 in MS lesions at different stages, comparing them with normal-appearing brain tissue from MS patients and non-neurological controls. During active stages of demyelination in WM, and especially the centre of chronic active MS lesions, we found significantly increased expression of HSPB1, HSPB6 and HSPB8, but not HSPB11. When induced, small HSPs were exclusively found in astrocytes but not in oligodendrocytes, microglia or neurons. Surprisingly, while the numbers of astrocytes displaying high expression of small HSPs were markedly increased in actively demyelinating lesions in WM, no such induction was observed in GM lesions. This difference was particularly obvious in leukocortical lesions covering both WM and GM areas.
CONCLUSIONS: Since induction of small HSPs in astrocytes is apparently a secondary response to damage, their differential expression between WM and GM likely reflects differences in mediators that accompany demyelination in either WM or GM during MS. Our findings also suggest that during MS, cortical structures fail to benefit from the protective actions of small HSPs.


Heat shock proteins (HSP) are a family of proteins that are produced bycells in response to exposure to stressful conditions. They were first described in relation to heat shock, but are now known to also be expressed during other stresses including exposure to cold,UV light, and during wound healing or tissue remodeling. Many members of this group perform chaperone function by stabilizing new proteins to ensure correct folding or by helping to refold proteins that were damaged by the cell stress. The dramatic upregulation of the heat shock proteins is a key part of the heat shock response and is induced primarily by heat shock factor (HSF). In this study they found that some heat shock proteins are increased in astrocytes in the white matter but not the grey matter and not in oligodendrocytes that expressed HSPB5 (alpha B crystallin). So maybe a response to demyelination of white matter axons. So does this mean grey matter lesions do worse?

COI Study by DrLove

Labels: