Neurodegenerative diseases pose an important global health challenge but currently there are no efficient therapies that would slow, stop or prevent these diseases, making it essential to understand molecular mechanisms related to pathology of neurodegenerative diseases. Oligodendrocytes play a crucial role in development and progression of numerous neurodegenerative diseases. In our work, we studied the expression of γ-enolase in oligodendrocytes, which exerts neurotrophic-like properties and its role has been relatively unexplored in oligodendrocytes. For this purpose, we used human oligodendroglioma (HOG) cell line, stimulating differentiation using various differentiation media compositions, with changes shown in cell morphology, decreased cell proliferation and altered expression levels of markers for undifferentiated and differentiated oligodendrocytes. We observed an α-γ enolase switch during oligodendrocyte differentiation, with an increase in the total and active forms of γ-enolase and a decrease in α-enolase expression, coinciding with decreased glycolytic activity. Inhibition of cathepsin X with AMS36 further affected cell differentiation, leading to enhanced growth of cell extensions and cell reorganizing into an elongated phenotype. This indicates indirect neurotrophic activity of cathepsin X's substrate γ-enolase in brain cells, further supported by the colocalization of cathepsin X and γ-enolase in HOG oligodendrocytes. We also established an inflammatory model of damaged oligodendrocytes using the cytokines tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interferon γ (IFN-γ). We confirmed that inflammation leads to cell death and showed a decline in α-enolase and γ-enolase expression in oligodendrocytes, resulting in inhibited cell proliferation and differentiation. The findings of this master's thesis show the presence of an α-γ enolase switch during oligodendrocyte differentiation, with increased expression levels of γ-enolase in differentiated oligodendrocytes, the isoenzyme known for its trophic support that is regulated by proteolytic activity of cathepsin X. This suggests a potential for the development of new drugs that would promote the neurotrophic activity of γ-enolase, thereby promoting the activation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells and oligodendrocyte differentiation and renewal, which presents a promising approach for prevention and therapy of neurodegenerative diseases.
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