Oligodendrocyte precursor cells OPCs

Most mammalian cell types develop from precursor cells that divide a limited number of times before they stop and terminally differentiate. In no case do we understand why the cells stop dividing when they do. The stopping mechanisms are important because they determine how many differentiated cells are produced and when differentiation begins. We have been studying the stopping mechanism in oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) isolated from the developing optic nerve of rats and mice. 

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) aie the best-chaiacterized precmsors in the CNS of mammals. They arise from multi-potential cells in spatially restricted germinal zones and tlien migrate through the developing CNS. 

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