Environmental enrichment ameliorates perinatal brain injury and promotes functional white matter recovery

This project focuses on uncovering oligodendrocyte genes contributing to the recovery from neonatal hypoxia in an enriched environment. To do this, we have used translating ribosome affinity purification (TRAP) to isolate actively translating RNAs from oligodendrocytes (OL; CNP-bacTRAP) and OL progenitor cells (OPC, PDGFRa-bacTRAP) in the subcortical white matter of mice. RNA-Seq was performed at developmentally relevant time points from normally developing mice, mice that received perinatal hypoxia, and mice that recovered from hypoxia in an enriched environment. These data provide a characterization of oligodendrocyte lineage cell-specific translation in normal mouse development, following a model of premature birth, and following an intervention that promotes recovery of the white matter.