Adult brain retains the potential to generate oligodendroglial progenitorswith extensive myelination capacity

Remyelination of focal areas of the central nervous system (CNS) in animals can be achieved by transplantation of glial cells, yet the source of these cells in humans to similarly treat myelin disorders is limited at present to fetal tissue, Multipotent precursor cells are present in the CNS of adul t as well as embryonic and neonatal animals and can differentiate into line age-restricted progenitors such as oligodendroglial progenitors (OPs), The OPs present in adults have a different phenotype from those seen in earlier life, and their potential role in CNS repair remains unknown. To gain insi ghts into the potential to manipulate the myelinating capacity of these pre cursor and/or progenitor cells, we generated a homogenous culture of OPs fr om neural precursor cells isolated from adult rat subependymal tissues. Phe notypic characterization indicated that these Ops resembled neonatal rather than adult OPs and produced robust myelin after transplantation. The abili ty to generate such cells from the adult brain therefore opens an avenue to explore the potential of these cells for repairing myelin disorders in adu lthood.