Terminal differentiation of myelin-forming oligodendrocytes depends on the transcription factor Sox10

TLDR

Sox10 is a high‑mobility‑group transcriptional regulator expressed in early neural crest. Sox10 is required for glial development: its loss prevents peripheral glia formation, limits CNS expression to myelin‑forming oligodendroglia, disrupts terminal differentiation of progenitors, abolishes myelin production even when Sox10‑deficient neural stem cells are transplanted into wild‑type hosts, directly activates myelin genes in oligodendrocytes, but does not regulate erbB3, revealing distinct roles in peripheral and central glia.

Abstract

Sox10 is a high-mobility-group transcriptional regulator in early neural crest. Without Sox10, no glia develop throughout the peripheral nervous system. Here we show that Sox10 is restricted in the central nervous system to myelin-forming oligodendroglia. In Sox10-deficient mice progenitors develop, but terminal differentiation is disrupted. No myelin was generated upon transplantation of Sox10-deficient neural stem cells into wild-type hosts showing the permanent, cell-autonomous nature of the defect. Sox10 directly regulates myelin gene expression in oligodendrocytes, but does not control erbB3 expression as in peripheral glia. Sox10 thus functions in peripheral and central glia at different stages and through different mechanisms.