Global gene expression profiles in brain regions reflecting abnormal neuronal and glial functions targeting myelin sheaths after 28-day exposure to cuprizone in rats

Both developmental and postpubertal cuprizone (CPZ) exposure impairs hippocampal neurogenesis in rats. We previously found that developmental CPZ exposure alters the expression of genes related to neurogenesis, myelination, and synaptic transmission in specific brain regions of offspring. Here, we examined neuronal and glial toxicity profiles in response to postpubertal CPZ exposure by using expression microarray analysis in the hippocampal dentate gyrus, corpus callosum, cerebral cortex, and cerebellar vermis of 5-week-old male rats exposed to 0, 120, and 600 mg/kg CPZ for 28 days. Genes showing transcript upregulation were subjected to immunohistochemical analysis. We found transcript expression alterations at 600 mg/kg for genes related to synaptic transmission, Ache and Prima1, and cell cycle regulation, Tfap4 and Cdkn1a, in the dentate gyrus, which showed aberrant neurogenesis in the subgranular zone. This dose downregulated myelination-related genes in multiple brain regions, whereas KLOTHO+ oligodendrocyte density was decreased only in the corpus callosum. The corpus callosum showed an increase in transcript levels for inflammatory response-related genes and in the number of CD68+ microglia, MT+ astrocytes, and TUNEL+ apoptotic cells. These results suggest that postpubertal CPZ exposure targets synaptic transmission and cell cycle regulation to affect neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus. CPZ suppressed myelination in multiple brain regions and KLOTHO-mediated oligodendrocyte maturation only in the corpus callosum. The increased number of CD68+ microglia, MT+ astrocytes, and TUNEL+ apoptotic cells in the corpus callosum may be involved in the induction of KLOTHO+ oligodendrocyte death and be a protective mechanism against myelin damage following CPZ exposure.