Embryonic stem cell-derived glial precursors: A source of myelinating transplants

Self-renewing, totipotent embryonic stem (ES) cells may provide a virtually unlimited donor source for transplantation. A protocol that permits the in vitro generation of precursors for oligodendrocytes and astrocytes from ES cells was devised. Transplantation in a rat model of a human myelin diseas e shows that these ES cell-derived precursors interact with host neurons an d efficiently myelinate axons in brain and spinal cord. Thus, ES cells can serve as a valuable source of cell type-specific somatic precursors for neu ral transplantation.