Dysmyelination in class I MHC transgenic mice

Why is it that oligodendrocytes do not normally express major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules? To examine the effect of aberrant MHC expression in oligodendrocytes, transgenic mice have been produced which expressed the class I MHC gene, H-2Kb, under direction of the MBP promoter [Turnley et al. (1991b) Nature, 353:566-569; Yoshioka et al. (1991) Mol. Cell. Biol., 11:5479-5486]. A proportion of these mice exhibited a shivering phenotype, with tonic seizures and early death. Oligodendrocyte function and viability was shown to be affected, resulting in severe dysmyelination of the CNS. Is this phenomenon of cell damage due to aberrant expression of MHC molecules restricted to oligodendrocytes, and could other, non-MHC molecules, when aberrantly expressed, result in similar cell damage? This paper discusses these questions and examines possible mechanisms for the oligodendrocyte damage and hypomyelination observed in these transgenic mice. Finally, the implications of aberrant MHC expression in oligodendrocytes for demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis are discussed.