ATX expression from GFAP+ cells is essential for embryonic development

Autotaxin (ATX) is secreted by various type of cells in health and disease and catalyzes the extracellular production of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). In turn, LPA is a bioactive lysophospholipid promoting a wide array of cellular functions through its multiple G-protein coupled receptors, differentially expressed in almost all cell types. ATX expression has been shown necessary for embryonic development and has been suggested to participate in the pathogenesis of different chronic inflammatory diseases and cancer. Deregulated ATX and LPA levels have been reported in multiple sclerosis (MS) and its experimental model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). ATX genetic deletion from macrophages and microglia (CD11b+ cells) attenuated the severity of EAE, thus proposing a pathogenic role for the ATX/LPA axis in MS/EAE. In this report, increased ATX staining was localized to glial fibrillary acidic protein positive (GFAP+) cells, mostly astrocytes, in spinal cord sections from EAE mice at the peak of the disease. However, genetic deletion of ATX from GFAP+ cells resulted in embryonic lethality, suggesting a major role for ATX expression from GFAP+ cells in embryonic development, that urges further dissection. Moreover, the re-expression of ATX from GFAP+ cells during the pathogenesis of EAE, reinforces the concept that ATX/LPA is a developmental program aberrantly reactivated upon chronic inflammation.