Is the oligodendroglial differentiation of bipotential oligodendrocyte-type 2 astrocyte progenitors promoted by autocrine factors?
When immature O-2A (oligodendrocyte-type 2 astrocyte) lineage cells purified from rat mixed cortical glial cultures were subcultured at low density in 10% fetal calf serum (FCS)-containing medium they largely differentiated into type-2 astrocytes. When the same number of cells was subcultured at high density in the same volume of medium the proportion of O-2A progenitors differentiating into oligodendrocytes was substantially increased. The possibility that oligodendrocyte differentiation in high-density cultures is facilitated by autocrine factors is supported by the observation that a medium conditioned by high-density subcultures of purified O-2A cells contains high molecular weight (greater than 30 kDa), non-mitogenic factor(s) capable of inducing a rapid differentiation of immature 0-2A cells into oligodendrocytes even in low-density cultures.
Levi
G
G
Neurobiology Section, Istituto Superiore di Sanitá, Roma, Italy.
Agresti
C
C
D'Urso
D
D
Aloisi
F
F
D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology; D003470:Culture Media; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005699:Galactosylceramides / Q000032:analysis; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*
D003470:Culture Media; D005699:Galactosylceramides; C002454:galactocerebroside