Genetic Evidence that Dorsal Spinal Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells are Capable of Myelinating Ventral Axons Effectively in Mice

This study investigates the potential of dorsally-derived oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (dOPCs) to myelinate ventral axons in the mouse spinal cord when ventrally-derived OPCs (vOPCs) are absent. Using a conditional knockout mouse model, the researchers found that dOPCs can proliferate, migrate to the ventral spinal tissue, and differentiate into myelinating oligodendrocytes (OLs) when vOPCs are blocked. These findings suggest that dOPCs are capable of effectively myelinating ventral axons, providing genetic evidence for their developmental plasticity.

• 1
  In Nestin-Smo cKO mice, where ventral oligodendrogenesis is blocked, dOPCs undergo rapid amplification and spread to the ventral spinal tissue.
• 2
  dOPCs in the mutant mice eventually differentiate into myelinating OLs in the ventral white matter, albeit with a temporal delay.
• 3
  The myelin sheaths formed by dOLs in the Nestin-Smo cKO mice were significantly thicker than those in control mice.