Timing cell-cycle exit and differentiation in oligodendrocyte development.
During animal development many cells permanently stop dividing and terminally differentiate. For the most part, the mechanisms that control when the cells exit the cell cycle and differentiate are not known. We have been studying the mechanisms in the oligodendrocyte cell lineage. Studies of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) in culture suggest that each OPC has a built-in timing mechanism that helps determine when the cell stops dividing and differentiates. This intrinsic timer consists of at least two components--a timing component, which measures elapsed time, and an effector component, which stops cell division and initiates differentiation at the appropriate time. The timer seems to involve both transcriptional and posttranscriptional mechanisms, with some proteins progressively increasing and others progressively decreasing over time.
Raff
M
M
MRC Developmental Neurobiology Programme, MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology and the Biology Department, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Apperly
J
J
Kondo
T
T
Tokumoto
Y
Y
Tang
D
D
D000818:Animals; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000502:physiology*; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D050760:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p27; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000166:cytology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; D050760:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p27