Extracellular vesicle-associated cholesterol supports the regenerative functions of macrophages in the brain

Abstract

Macrophages play major roles in the pathophysiology of various neurological disorders, being involved in seemingly opposing processes such as lesion progression and resolution. Yet, the molecular mechanisms that drive their harmful and benign effector functions remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by repair-associated macrophages (RAMs) enhance remyelination ex vivo and in vivo by promoting the differentiation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs). Guided by lipidomic analysis and applying cholesterol depletion and enrichment strategies, we find that EVs released by RAMs show markedly elevated cholesterol levels and that cholesterol abundance controls their reparative impact on OPC maturation and remyelination. Mechanistically, EV-associated cholesterol was found to promote OPC differentiation predominantly through direct membrane fusion. Collectively, our findings highlight that EVs are essential for cholesterol trafficking in the brain and that changes in cholesterol abundance support the reparative impact of EVs released by macrophages in the brain, potentially having broad implications for therapeutic strategies aimed at promoting repair in neurodegenerative disorders.

Keywords: cholesterol; extracellular vesicle; oligodendrocyte precursor cell differentiation; remyelination; repair-associated macrophage.