The adult brain contains a large population of oligodendrocyte precursor cells that can be identified using antibodies against the NG2 chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan. The functions of this newly recognized class of glial cells in the normal or pathological brain are not well understood. To begin to elucidate these functions, we have examined the morphology and distribution of oligodendrocyte ...

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells, which persist in the adult central nervous system, are the main source of central nervous system remyelinating cells. In multiple sclerosis, some demyelinated plaques exhibit an oligodendroglial depopulation, raising the hypothesis of impaired oligodendrocyte precursor cell recruitment. Developmental studies identified semaphorins 3A and 3F as repulsive and attr...

Lesions appearing in the CNS of patients in the chronic phase of the inflammatory, demyelinating disease multiple sclerosis often fail to repair, resulting in neurological dysfunction. This failure of remyelination appears, in many cases, to be due not to the destruction of the local oligodendrocyte precursor population, a source for new myelin-forming cells, but to the failure of the precursor...

Microglia is considered the only cell population of mesodermal origin, which comprises 10% of the cells in brain parenchyma. Recent neural stem cell (NSC) studies demonstrate that the brain has regenerative potential. NSCs do not give rise to microglial cells, however indicating that NSCs alone cannot complete the regenetion of the brain. Although the role of microglia is not fully understood, ...

The myelin sheath in the vertebrate CNS is formed by oligodendrocytes. The number of oligodendrocytes in a mature axon tract must be sufficient to myelinate all appropriate axons. How the number of oligodendrocytes is matched to axonal requirements and whether such matching involves axon-oligodendrocyte signaling or intrinsic oligodendrocyte self-regulation are not clear. Using a combination of...

Microglia is considered the only cell population of mesodermal origin, which comprises 10% of the cells in brain parenchyma. Recent neural stem cell (NSC) studies demonstrate that the brain has regenerative potential. NSCs do not give rise to microglial cells, however indicating that NSCs alone cannot complete the regenetion of the brain. Although the role of microglia is not fully understood, ...

Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) is a gene disrupted by a translocation, t(1;11) (q42.1;q14.3), that segregates with major psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, recurrent major depression and bipolar affective disorder, in a Scottish family. Here we report that mammalian DISC1 endogenously expressed in oligodendroglial lineage cells negatively regulates differentiation of oligoden...

Key Points Oligodendrocyte precursor cells express doublecortin, a microtubule-associated protein.Oligodendrocyte precursor cells express doublecortin, but at a lower level of expression than in neuronal precursor.Doublecortin is not associated with a potential immature neuronal phenotype in Oligodendrocyte precursor cells. Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPC) are glial cells that differentiat...