Regenerative potential of adult O1+ oligodendrocytes

✍ Scribed by Caterina Rosano; Ernesto Felipe-Cuervo; Patrick M. Wood

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 920 KB
• Volume: 27
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0894-1491
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-1136(199909)27:3<189::aid-glia1>3.0.co;2-i

✦ Synopsis

Remyelination in the adult central nervous system (CNS) is preceded by the generation of new oligodendrocytes (ODCs) but the source of the new ODCs has not been resolved. Adult galactocerebroside positive (O1ϩ)ODCs proliferate when cultured with purified sensory neurons (Wood and Bunge, Nature 320:756-758, 1999), implying that differentiated ODCs could be an important source of new myelinating ODCs. To test this possibility purified O1ϩODCs (Ͼ96% purity) were plated at low density (20-50 cells/culture) into cultures of purified dorsal root ganglion neurons. Three days after plating, single O1ϩODCs were located (209 ODCs/43 cultures) and sequentially observed for 4 weeks. The ODCs began to proliferate by the fifth day after plating and formed large colonies by the third week. Most cells in these colonies were 01Ϫ but positive for another ODC antigen, O4. A few O1ϩ, myelin basic protein (MBP)ϩODCs, and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)ϩcells with astrocytic morphology were observed in some colonies. In similar cultures plated with cell-sorted O1ϩODCs (Ͼ99.5% purity), ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF, 1ng/ml) increased the number and size of colonies, the number of O1ϩMBPϩODCs (including ODCs producing myelin-like profiles in association with axons) and the number of GFAPϩ astrocytes, relative to untreated controls. The results are evidence that CNTF exerts a trophic effect on adult O1ϩODCs, and/or their progeny, and that cells generated by division of O1ϩODCs can become either new myelinproducing ODC, or astrocytes. This plasticity in regenerative potential of adult O1ϩODCs has not been previously demonstrated.