Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Proliferating bipotential glial progenitor cells in adult rat optic nerve

Nature volume 319, pages 499–502 (1986)Cite this article

Abstract

We have shown previously that the rat optic nerve contains three types of macroglial cells—oligodendrocytes and two types of astrocytes—which develop as two distinct lineages. Type-1 astrocytes develop from one type of precursor cell beginning at embryonic day 16 (E16)1, while oligodendrocytes and then type-2 astrocytes develop from a common, bipotential progenitor cell beginning at birth (E21) and postnatal days 7–10 (P7–10), respectively2. Here we report that proliferating bipotential oligoden-drocyte-type-2 astrocyte (0-2A) progenitor cells are present in the adult rat optic nerve, raising the possibility that these cells are produced continually from self-renewing stem cells throughout life.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Raff, M. C., Abney, E. A. & Miller, R. H. Devl Biol. 106, 53–60 (1984).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Miller, R. H., David, S., Patel, R., Abney, E. A. & Raff, M. C. Devl Biol. 111, 35–41 (1985).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Raff, M. C., Miller, R. H. & Noble, M. Nature 303, 390–396 (1983).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Noble, M. & Murray, K. EMBO J. 3, 2243–47 (1984).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Raff, M. C., Abney, E. A. & Fok-Seang, J. Cell 42, 61–69 (1985).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Temple, S. & Raff, M. C. Cell (in the press).

  7. Eisenbarth, G. S., Walsh, F. S. & Nirenberg, M. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 4913–17 (1979).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Bignami, A., Eng, L. F., Dahl, D. & Uyeda, C. T. Brain Res. 43, 429–435 (1972).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Raff, M. C. et al. Brain Res. 174, 283–308 (1979).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Ranscht, B., Clapshaw, P. A., Price, J., Noble, M. & Seifert, W. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 2709–2713 (1982).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Raff, M. C. et al. Nature 274, 813–816 (1978).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. David, S., Miller, R. H., Patel, R. & Raff, M. C. J. Neurocytol. 13, 961–974 (1984).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Temple, S. & Raff, M. C. Nature 313, 223–225 (1985).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Raff, M. C., Williams, B. P. & Miller, R. H. EMBO J. 3, 1857–1864 (1984).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Skoff, R. P., Price, D. L. & Stocks, A. J. comp. Neurol. 169, 291–312 (1976).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Skoff, R. P., Price, D. L. & Stocks, A. J. comp. Neurol. 169, 313–334 (1976).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Miller, R. H. et al. J. Neurosci. (in the press).

  18. Abney, E. A., Williams, B. P. & Raff, M. C. Devi Biol. 100, 166–171 (1983).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Till, J. E. & McCulloch, E. A. Biochim. biophys. Acta 605, 431–459 (1980).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Mares, V., Lodin, Z. & Jílek, M. J. comp. Neurol. 161, 471–482 (1975).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Kaplan, M. S. & Hinds, J. W. J. comp. Neurol. 193, 711–727 (1980).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Lindsay, R. M. Adv. Cell Neurobiol. (in the press).

  23. Bottenstein, J. & Sato, G. H. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 514–517 (1979).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Pruss, R. M. Nature 280, 688–690 (1979).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Johnson, G. D. et al J. immun. Meth. 55, 231–242 (1982).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Research Council Neuroimmunology Project, Zoology Department, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Charles ffrench-Constant & Martin C. Raff

Authors
  1. Charles ffrench-Constant
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Martin C. Raff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

ffrench-Constant, C., Raff, M. Proliferating bipotential glial progenitor cells in adult rat optic nerve. Nature 319, 499–502 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/319499a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/319499a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing