RETRACTED ARTICLE: Identification of the Interaction Between the Human Homologue of the Arabidopsis COP9 Signalosome Subunit 7a and Olig1

Jiazhen Zhou, Yuanyuan Li, Cheng He

The oligodendrocyte lineage gene (Olig1) was first identified in screens, and was shown to be a master regulator during differentiation of oligodendrocyte precursors into myelin forming oligodendrocytes. Olig1 was also shown to be required for myelin repair during multiple sclerosis. While co-regulator proteins for nuclear Olig1 are well established, co-regulator proteins for cytoplasmic Olig1 remain unknown. Using a yeast two-hybrid strategy, we found that Olig1 bound to a human homologue of the Arabidopsis COP9 signalosome subunit 7a (COPS7A). Moreover, the interaction between Olig1 and COPS7A was subsequently confirmed by both in vitro and in vivo co-immunoprecipitation assays and immunofluorescent staining. In particular, confocal laser microscopic images showed that Olig1 and COPS7A co-localized to the cytoplasm of oligodendrocytes in the adult rat corpus callosum. By contrast, COPS7A was consistently expressed in oligodendrocyte lineage cells, and was down-regulated during the peak period of myelination. Collectively, these findings suggested that COPS7A associated physically with Olig1, and it might thus serve as a novel negative regulator in oligodendrocytes differentiation.