Accelerated differentiation of oligodendrocytes in neuronal-rich embryonic mouse brain cell cultures.

The expression of two oligodendroglial markers, galactocerebroside (GC) and myelin basic protein (MBP), was studied in brain cell cultures (BCC) from 14-day-old mouse embryos by immunocytochemical methods. The presence of neurons and astrocytes was also investigated. Results show that oligodendrocytes simultaneously express both GC and MBP already at 7 days in vitro. These cultures are rich in neurons, and the astrocyte layer is also well represented. A comparison is made between these data and those previously obtained by the use of newborn mouse brain cell cultures, which are very poor in neurons. The differentiation of oligodendrocytes, as reflected in the expression of MBP, is accelerated in embryonic mouse BCC when compared to neonatal mouse BCC. We therefore speculate that neurons are involved in the enhancement of the ability of oligodendrocytes to express myelin related components in culture.