Oligodendrocyte Development and Plasticity

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) originate in the ventricular zones (VZs) of the brain and spinal cord and migrate throughout the developing central nervous system (CNS) before differentiating into myelinating oligodendrocytes (OLs). It is not known whether OPCs or OLs from different parts of the VZ are functionally distinct. OPCs persist in the postnatal CNS, where they continue to divide and generate myelinating OLs at a decreasing rate throughout adult life in rodents. Adult OPCs respond to injury or disease by accelerating their cell cycle and increasing production of OLs to replace lost myelin. They also form synapses with unmyelinated axons and respond to electrical activity in those axons by…

• NM
  National Multiple Sclerosis Society
• UO
  University of Miami
• WT
  Wellcome Trust
• TA
  Target ALS
• AS
  Alzheimer's Society
• RS
  Royal Society
• MS
  Multiple Sclerosis Society
• NI
  National Institutes of Health
• MR
  Medical Research Council