title: Precursor cell types in the germinal zone of the cerebral cortex.
abstract: Retroviral lineage tracing experiments suggest that the cortical ventricular zone is composed of a mixture of precursor cell types. The majority generate a single cell type (neurones, astrocytes or oligodendrocytes) and the remainder generate neurones and a single type of glial cell. Pluripotential precursor cells, that have the ability to generate all three cell types, are not observed. A recent paper, however, reports that when single ventricular zone cells are cultured in isolation, a small percentage of these cells are pluripotential. This review will discuss what this knowledge tells us about cortical development.
authors.affiliation: Boston Biomedical Research Institute, MA 02130, USA.
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology; D006801:Humans; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000166:cytology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*