Congratulations to Dr. Dwight Bergles and colleagues whose latest results were recently published in Science! 

Link to Science publication: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu2896

This study explored the mechanisms responsible for the generation of oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system. Oligodendrocytes are the sole producers of myelin, which is used to accelerate the propagation of action potentials and information processing in neural circuits. These cells are generated throughout life by a self-renewing population of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), but the mechanisms that control the differentiation of these widely distributed progenitors are not well understood.

The studies, led by Research Associate Yevgeniya Mironova, PhD, discovered that OPCs acutely alter the extracellular matrix as they begin to transform into oligodendrocytes, giving rise to a unique protein signature – a “Dandelion Clock-like Structure” or DACS – that surrounds each differentiating OPC. With this knowledge, it was possible to define where and when OPCs undergo differentiation with unprecedented precision.

Analysis of adult mouse brain tissue revealed that OPC differentiation was widespread and remarkably consistent between brain regions that will ultimately contain different amounts of myelin. Moreover, OPCs attempted to differentiate at the same rate in regions of the brain where there will never be oligodendrocytes, indicating that OPC lineage progression is governed by a constitutive process, independent of myelin demand. Consistent with this hypothesis, profound destruction of oligodendrocytes also did not change the rate of OPC differentiation. These results indicate that oligodendrocyte and myelin patterning across the brain is ultimately controlled by altering the survival and integration of these differentiating cells. OPC differentiation declined with age and was reduced by CNS inflammation, which may limit myelin repair. Leveraging this new knowledge about the constitutive, developmental control of OPC lineage progression may help us design more effective therapies to restore myelin damaged in diseases like multiple sclerosis.