Oligodendrocyte‐specific deletion of Xbp1 exacerbates the endoplasmic reticulum stress response and restricts locomotor recovery after thoracic spinal cord injury

The endoplasmic reticulum stress response (ERSR) is activated in various neurodegenerative diseases and/or after CNS traumatic injuries. The ERSR is comprised of three major arms, PERK, IRE‐1, and activating transcription factor‐6, with the latter two contributing to the unfolded protein response (UPR). PERK activity overlaps with the integrated stress response (ISR) kinases, PKR, HRI, and GCN2 which all signal through, eukaryotic initiation factor 2α, ATF4, and CHOP. All initially attempt to restore endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homeostasis, but if ER stress is unresolved, ATF4/CHOP‐mediated cell death is initiated. Here, we investigate the contribution of the inositol‐requiring protein‐1α‐X‐box binding protein‐1 (XBP1)‐mediated UPR signaling pathway to the pathogenesis of spinal cord injury (SCI). We demonstrate that deletion of Xbp1 caused an exacerbated ATF4/CHOP signaling in cultured mouse oligodendrocyte (OL) progenitor cells and enhanced their sensitivity to ER stress. Similar effects were also observed with the Xbp1 pathway inhibitor toyocamycin. Furthermore, OL lineage‐specific loss of Xbp1 resulted in enhanced ISR in mice that underwent moderate contusive SCI at the T9 level. Consistently, post‐injury recovery of hindlimb locomotion and white matter sparing were reduced in OL Xbp1‐deficient mice, which correlated with chronically decreased relative density of OPCs and OLs at the injury epicenter at 6 weeks post‐SCI. We conclude that the IRE1‐XBP1‐mediated UPR signaling pathway contributes to restoration of ER homeostasis in OLs and is necessary for enhanced white matter sparing and functional recovery post‐SCI.