The effects of developmental and current niches on oligodendrocyte precursor dynamics and fate.

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), whose primary function is to generate myelinating oligodendrocytes, are distributed widely throughout the developing and mature central nervous system. They originate from several defined subdomains in the embryonic germinal zones at different developmental stages and in the adult. While many phenotypic differences have been observed among OPCs in different anatomical regions and among those arising from different germinal zones, we know relatively little about the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which the historical and current niches shape the behavior of oligodendrocyte lineage cells. This minireview will discuss how the behavior of oligodendrocyte lineage cells is influenced by the developmental niches from which subpopulations of OPCs emerge, by the current niches surrounding OPCs in different regions, and in pathological states that cause deviations from the normal density of oligodendrocyte lineage cells and myelin.