Cell death and control of cell survival in the oligodendrocyte lineage.
Dead cells are observed in many developing animal tissues, but the causes of these normal cell deaths are mostly unknown. We show that about 50% of oligodendrocytes normally die in the developing rat optic nerve, apparently as a result of a competition for limiting amounts of survival signals. Both platelet-derived growth factor and insulin-like growth factors are survival factors for newly formed oligodendrocytes and their precursors in culture. Increasing platelet-derived growth factor in the developing optic nerve decreases normal oligodendrocyte death by up to 90% and doubles the number of oligodendrocytes in 4 days. These results suggest that a requirement for survival signals is more general than previously thought and that some normal cell deaths in nonneural tissues may also reflect competition for survival factors.
Barres
B A
BA
Medical Research Council Developmental Neurobiology Programme, University College, London, England.
Hart
I K
IK
Coles
H S
HS
Burne
J F
JF
Voyvodic
J T
JT
Richardson
W D
WD
Raff
M C
MC
D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II