Impairment of Oligodendroglial Lineage Cells: An Important Player in the Pathogenesis of Psychiatric Disorders

Major psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, depression and anxiety disorders, etc have serious impact on patients' health, but the pathogenesis remains unknown. With an extensive study on glial cells, their functions in psychiatric disorders have attracted much attention in recent years. Oligodendrocyte lineage cells (OLGs), as major myelination cells in the CNS, not only exhibit dynamic changes compatible with alterations in neurologic function but also regulate synaptic development and brain function from multiple aspects by interacting with neurons, astrocytes, and microglia. Concurrently, a growing number of studies have found extensive myelin loss and abnormal alterations of OLGs in the brains of patients with different types of psychiatric disorders. Moreover, impaired development and/or dysfunction of OLGs can lead to neuropsychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and social disorders by disrupting synaptic transmission or the glial network in animal models. Thus, targeting OLGs may represent a promising strategy for the treatment of psychiatric disorders.