Neuron
Volume 7, Issue 4, October 1991, Pages 685-693
Journal home page for Neuron

Article
The generation of neurons and oligodendrocytes from a common precursor cell

https://doi.org/10.1016/0896-6273(91)90381-9Get rights and content

Abstract

We have used a recombinant retrovirus carrying the lacZ gene to study the developmental potential of precursor cells from the embryonic rat cerebral cortex in dissociated cell culture. Virus was used to label a small number of cultured cells genetically so that their fate could be determined. Infected clones were detected with an anti-β-galactosidase serum, and the labeled cells were identified using monoclonal antibodies. The results revealed that most precursor cells generated a single cell type, the majority being either neurons or oligodendrocytes. However, a proportion off the neuronal clones also included oligodendrocytes. This proportion increased until embryonic day 16 when 18% of the neuronal clones were of this type. This suggests that during neurogenesis in the cerebral cortex there exists a cell with the potential to generate these two quite different neural cell types.

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