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Oligodendrocytes (from Greek 'cells with a few branches'), also known as oligodendroglia, are a type of neuroglia whose main function is to provide the myelin sheath to neuronal axons in the central nervous system (CNS). Myelination gives metabolic support to, and insulates the axons of most vertebrates. [1]
Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), also known as oligodendrocyte precursor cells, NG2-glia, O2A cells, or polydendrocytes, are a subtype of glia in the central nervous system named for their essential role as precursors to oligodendrocytes and myelin. [1] They are typically identified in the human by co-expression of PDGFRA and CSPG4.
Oligodendrocytes are cells that coat axons in the CNS with their cell membrane, forming a specialized membrane differentiation called myelin, producing the myelin sheath. The myelin sheath provides insulation to the axon that allows electrical signals to propagate more efficiently.
Oligodendrocyte; Oligodendrocyte progenitor cell; Pituicyte (posterior pituitary) Pineal gland. Pinealocyte; Cells derived from mesoderm.
The myelin sheath that surrounds and protects nerve cells is made by cells called oligodendrocytes. In a person with MS, these cells are lost, so damaged myelin sheaths cannot be repaired.
Myelin is formed by oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system and Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system.Therefore, the first stage of myelinogenesis is often defined as the differentiation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) or Schwann cell progenitors into their mature counterparts, [4] followed by myelin formation around axons.
Remyelination is the process of propagating oligodendrocyte precursor cells to form oligodendrocytes to create new myelin sheaths on demyelinated axons in the Central nervous system (CNS). This is a process naturally regulated in the body and tends to be very efficient in a healthy CNS. [ 1 ]
In the CNS, oligodendrocytes do not possess microvilli, but appear capable to initiate the clustering of some axonal proteins through secreted factors. The combined effects of such factors with the subsequent movements generated by the wrapping of oligodendrocyte periaxonal extension could account for the organization of CNS nodes of Ranvier.