ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) plays an important role in the regulation of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and the biogenesis of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in the mammalian brain. Cholesterol is a major source for myelination. Here, we investigate whether ABCA1/ApoE/HDL contribute to myelin repair and oligodendrogenesis in the ischemic brain after stroke. Specific brain ABCA1-deficient (ABCA1-B/-B) and ABCA1-floxed (ABCA1fl/fl) control mice were subjected to permanent distal middle-cerebral-artery occlusion (dMCAo) and were intracerebrally administered (1) artificial mouse cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as vehicle control, (2) human plasma HDL3, and (3) recombined human ApoE2 starting 24 h after dMCAo for 14 days. All stroke mice were sacrificed 21 days after dMCAo. The ABCA1-B/-B-dMCAo mice exhibit significantly reduced myelination and oligodendrogenesis in the ischemic brain as well as decreased functional outcome 21 days after stroke compared with ABCA1fl/fl mice; administration of human ApoE2 or HDL3 in the ischemic brain significantly attenuates the deficits in myelination and oligodendrogenesis in ABCA1-B/-B-dMCAo mice ( p < 0.05, n = 9/group). In vitro, ABCA1-B/-B reduces ApoE expression and decreases primary oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) migration and oligodendrocyte maturation; HDL3 and ApoE2 treatment significantly reverses ABCA1-B/-B-induced reduction in OPC migration and oligodendrocyte maturation. Our data indicate that the ABCA1/ApoE/HDL signaling pathway contributes to myelination and oligodendrogenesis in the ischemic brain after stroke.
Keywords: ABCA1; ApoE; HDL; mylination; oligodendrogenesis; stroke; white matter.