NG2 targets tumorigenic Rb inactivation in Pit1-lineage pituitary cells

Age-dependent fate and lineage restriction of single NG2 cells.

NG2-expressing glia (NG2 cells, polydendrocytes) appear in the embryonic brain, expand perinatally, and persist widely throughout the gray and white matter of the mature central nervous system. We have previously reported that NG2 cells generate oligodendrocytes in both gray and white matter and a subset of protoplasmic astrocytes in the gray matter of the ventral forebrain and spinal cord. To ...

Those enigmatic NG2 cells . . . .

Cancer stem cells: therapeutic targets

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified as rare cellular populations in many cancers, including leukemia and solid tumors. This minor subpopulation of cancerous cells is immortal tumor-initiating cells which thought to be responsible for cancer initiation, progression, metastasis, recurrence and drug/radiation resistance. Low proliferative rate, high self-renewing capacity, differentiatio...

Human Lineage-Specific Gene Inactivation

Pseudogenes are nonfunctional vestiges of genes. Investigating genes that were inactivated specifically on the human lineage or within humans can reveal the genetic basis of interspecies differences between humans and chimpanzees and interindividual differences within humans. It can also help understand the selective pressures that altered during human evolution or vary among human populations....

Synaptic integration by NG2 cells

NG2 expressing oligodendrocyte precursor cells stand out from other types of glial cells by receiving classical synaptic contacts from many neurons. This unconventional form of signaling between neurons and glial cells enables NG2 cells to receive information about the activity of presynaptic neurons with high temporal and spatial precision and has been postulated to be involved in activity-dep...