title: Is cell migration or proliferation dominant in the formation of linear arrays of oligodendrocytes?
abstract: Oligodendrocytes are the myelin-producing cells of the central nervous system that are responsible for electrically insulating axons to speed the propagation of electrical impulses. A striking feature of oligodendrocyte development within white matter is that the cell bodies of many oligodendrocyte progenitor cells become organised into discrete linear arrays of three or more cells before they differentiate into myelin-producing oligodendrocytes. These linear arrays align parallel to the direction of the axons within white matter tracts and are believed to play an important role in the co-ordination of myelination. Guided by experimental data on the abundance and composition of linear arrays in the corpus callosum of the postnatal mouse brain, we construct discrete and continuous models of linear array generation to specifically investigate the relative influence of cell migration, proliferation, differentiation and death of oligodendroglia upon the genesis of linear arrays during early postnatal development. We demonstrate that only models that incorporate significant cell migration can replicate all of the experimental observations on number of arrays, number of cells in arrays and total cell count of oligodendroglia within a given area of the corpus callosum. These models are also necessary to accurately reflect experimental data on the abundance of linear arrays composed of oligodendrocytes that derive from progenitors of different clonal origins.
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia. Electronic address: darragh.walsh@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Darragh M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.affiliation: The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia. Electronic address: philipp.roth@florey.edu.au.
authors.forename: Philipp T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Röth
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, TN 37240, USA. Electronic address: william.holmes@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: William R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia. Electronic address: kerryl@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Kerry A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Landman
authors.affiliation: The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia. Electronic address: tobias.merson@florey.edu.au.
authors.forename: Tobias D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Merson
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia. Electronic address: barrydh@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Barry D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Hughes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D016923:Cell Death; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002465:Cell Movement; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000166:cytology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000166:cytology*; D013269:Stochastic Processes; D013597:Systems Analysis; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Migration; Myelination; Oligodendrocyte and oligodendrocyte progenitor cell; Proliferation; Structure formation