Unraveling oligodendrocyte origin and function by cell-specific transgenesis

Abstract

Besides the role of mature oligodendrocytes in myelin synthesis during the development of the central nervous system (CNS), the oligodendrocyte lineage also encompasses the largest pool of postnatal proliferating progenitors whose behavior in vivo remains broadly elusive in health and disease. We describe here transgenic models that allow us to track the functions and origins of such cells by using proteolipid protein and 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNP) gene promoters to direct oligodendroglial expression of different reporters, in particular the green fluorescent protein (GFP). We emphasize that the CNP-GFP mouse, which targets the entire oligodendroglial lineage from embryonic life to adulthood, provides an outstanding tool to study the in vivo properties of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells in normal and damaged CNS.