In the developing ventral spinal cord, motor neurons (MNs) and oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) are sequentially generated from a common pool of neural progenitors included in the so-called pMN domain characterized by Olig2 expression. Here, we establish that the secreted Sulfatase 1 (Sulf1) is a major component of the mechanism that causes these progenitors to stop producing MNs and chan...

Olig family is a novel sub-family of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors recently identified. Olig1 and Olig2 were first reported to promote oligodendrocyte differentiation, and later Olig2 was reported to be involved in motoneuron specification as well. Olig3 was isolated as a third member of Olig family, but its precise expression pattern is poorly understood. Here, we describe detai...

Oligodendrocytes are the myelinating glia of the central nervous system and ensure rapid saltatory conduction. Shortage or loss of these cells leads to severe malfunctions as observed in human leukodystrophies and multiple sclerosis, and their replenishment by reprogramming or cell conversion strategies is an important research aim. Using a transgenic approach we increased levels of the transcr...

Platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha–positive oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPC) located within the mature central nervous system may remain quiescent, proliferate, or differentiate into oligodendrocytes. Human glioblastoma multiforme tumors often contain rapidly proliferating oligodendrocyte lineage transcription factor 2 (Olig2)-positive cells that resemble OPCs. In this study, w...

During early neural development, the Nkx6.1 homeodomain neural progenitor gene is specifically expressed in the ventral neural tube, and its activity is required for motoneuron generation in the spinal cord. We report that Nkx6.1 also controls oligodendrocyte development in the developing spinal cord, possibly by regulating Olig gene expression in the ventral neuroepithelium. In Nkx6.1 mutant s...

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) have been differentiated to astroglia, but the utilization of hPSC-derived astroglia as cell therapy for neurological diseases has not been well studied. Astroglia are heterogeneous, and not all astroglia are equivalent in promoting neural repair. A prerequisite for cell therapy is to derive defined cell populations with superior therapeutic effects. Here we...

Sonic hedgehog (SHH) and fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) can both induce neocortical precursors to express the transcription factor OLIG2 and generate oligodendrocyte progenitors (OLPs) in culture. The activity of FGF2 is unaffected by cyclopamine, which blocks Hedgehog signalling, demonstrating that the FGF pathway to OLP production is Hedgehog independent. Unexpectedly, SHH-mediated OLP ind...

Treatment with DAPT, an inhibitor of the Notch-activating enzyme, γ-secretase is known to reduce damage to ischemic brain. However, the molecular mechanisms supporting this therapeutic effect are not fully understood. Here we demonstrated that Notch/RBP-J signaling is activated in NG2(+) glial progenitors and reactive astrocytes such as GFAP(+) cells, Nestin(+) cells and RC2(+) cells, using Not...

Regarded as a damaging reaction, innate immune response can either improve or worsen brain outcome after injury. Hence, inflammatory molecules might modulate cell susceptibility or healing events. The remyelination that follows brain lesions is dependent on the recruitment of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) and expression of genes controlling differentiation and myelin production, such ...

Sensory neurons possess the central and peripheral branches and they form unique spinal neural circuits with motoneurons during development. Peripheral branches of sensory axons fasciculate with the motor axons that extend toward the peripheral muscles from the central nervous system (CNS), whereas the central branches of proprioceptive sensory neurons directly innervate motoneurons. Although a...