Neuron
Volume 68, Issue 4, 18 November 2010, Pages 668-681
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Article
NG2+ CNS Glial Progenitors Remain Committed to the Oligodendrocyte Lineage in Postnatal Life and following Neurodegeneration

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Summary

The mammalian CNS contains a ubiquitous population of glial progenitors known as NG2+ cells that have the ability to develop into oligodendrocytes and undergo dramatic changes in response to injury and demyelination. Although it has been reported that NG2+ cells are multipotent, their fate in health and disease remains controversial. Here, we generated PDGFαR-CreER transgenic mice and followed their fate in vivo in the developing and adult CNS. These studies revealed that NG2+ cells in the postnatal CNS generate myelinating oligodendrocytes, but not astrocytes or neurons. In regions of neurodegeneration in the spinal cord of ALS mice, NG2+ cells exhibited enhanced proliferation and accelerated differentiation into oligodendrocytes but remained committed to the oligodendrocyte lineage. These results indicate that NG2+ cells in the normal CNS are oligodendrocyte precursors with restricted lineage potential and that cell loss and gliosis are not sufficient to alter the lineage potential of these progenitors.

Highlights

► NG2+ cells generate myelinating oligodendrocytes in the developing and adult CNS ► Gray matter NG2+ cells are not postmitotic and retain the ability to form OLs ► NG2+ cells are not progenitors of astrocytes or neurons in the postnatal CNS ► Proliferating NG2+ cells in ALS mice do not exhibit lineage plasticity

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Present address: Department of Anatomy, Kitasato University School of Medicine, 1-15-1 kitasato, minami-ku, Sagamihara 252-0333, Japan