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Updated: Sep 22, 2025
Experimental Demyelination and Remyelination of Murine Spinal Cord by Focal Injection of Lysolecithin
Published on: March 26, 2015
Defining milestones for the study of remyelination using the cuprizone mouse model: How early is early?
Filipe Palavra1, Sofia D Viana2, Sara Henriques3
1Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics & Coimbra Institute for Clinical and Biomedical Research (iCBR), University of Coimbra, Celas, Coimbra 3000-548, Portugal; Center for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology (CIBB), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; Clinical Academic Center of Coimbra (CACC), Coimbra, Portugal; Center for Child Development - Neuropediatrics Unit, Hospital Pediátrico, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
Background:
Cuprizone (CPZ) is a copper chelator used to produce a reversible oligodendrocytopathy in animals, which has some similarities to the pathology found in human multiple sclerosis (MS). This model is attractive to study remyelination.
Aims:
To demonstrate that a two-week period after cessation of CPZ exposure is sufficient to establish changes compatible with remyelination, without accompanying behavior or brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) disturbances.
Methods:
Two groups of male C57BL/6 mice were fed an oral solution of CPZ (0.2%) for 5 weeks (W5); half of the animals were kept under the vehicle for another 2 weeks (W7). After 5 and 7 weeks, animals were subjected to a battery of behavioural tests and 18 animals to brain MRI. Animals' cerebellar samples were studied for gene expression and/or protein levels of GFAP, myelin proteolipid protein (PLP), TNF-α and IL-1β.
Results:
No differences were observed between CPZ-exposed and control animals, regarding behavior and MRI, both at W5 and W7. However, myelin PLP levels decreased in CPZ (W5) treated animals, and these changes reverted at W7. GFAP levels varied in the opposite direction.
Conclusions:
Observed changes validate the use of W5 and W7 temporal moments for the study of demyelination and early remyelination in this model.
