Radioautographic evidence for the protracted proliferation of glial cells in the central nervous system of jimpy mice.

Proliferation of glial cells has been studied in the central nervous system of jimpy mice and control littermates with [3H]thymidine radioautography. It was found that the proliferation of glial precursors was protracted in the 3 regions studied: spinal cord, cerebellum and corpus callosum. The difference between jimpy and littermates became obvious in each of these regions at the onset of myelination. It is concluded that the maturation of the oligodendrocyte is the target of the mutation. The protracted proliferation of glioblasts is a consequence of the absence of stable interactions with the axons.