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Ciliary neurotrophic factor induces type-2 astrocyte differentiation in culture

Nature volume 335, pages 70–73 (1988)Cite this article

Abstract

We have been studying a population of bipotential glial progenitor cells in the perinatal rat optic nerve and brain in an attempt to understand how cells choose between alternative fates in the developing mammalian central nervous system (CNS). This cell population gives rise initially to oligodendrocytes and then to type-2 astrocytes1, both of which apparently collaborate in sheathing axons in the CNS2,3. In vitro studies suggest that oligodendrocyte differentiation is the constitutive pathway of development for the oligodendrocyte-type-2-astrocyte (O-2A) progenitor cell4,5, whereas type-2 astrocyte differentiation depends on a specific inducing protein6. This protein is present in the developing optic nerve when type-2 astrocytes are differentiating and can induce O-2A progenitor cells in vitro to express glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)6, a marker of astrocyte differentiation7. Here we show that the type-2-astrocyte-inducing protein is similar or identical to ciliary neutrotrophic factor (CNTF)8,9, which promotes the survival of some types of peripheral neurons in vitro8, including ciliary ganglion neurons8,10. This suggests that CNTF, in addition to its effect on neurons, may be responsible for triggering type-2 astrocyte differentiation in the developing CNS.

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Author notes

  1. Simon M. Hughes

    Present address: Department of Pharmacology, Stanford University Medical School, Stanford, California, 94305, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Developmental Neurobiology Programme, Department of Biology, Medawar Building, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Simon M. Hughes, Laura E. Lillien & Martin C. Raff

  2. Department of Neurochemistry, Max-Planck Institute for Psychiatry, Am Klopferspitz 18a, D-8033, Martinsried, FRG

    Hermann Rohrer & Michael Sendtner

Authors
  1. Simon M. Hughes
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  2. Laura E. Lillien
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  4. Hermann Rohrer
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  5. Michael Sendtner
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Hughes, S., Lillien, L., Raff, M. et al. Ciliary neurotrophic factor induces type-2 astrocyte differentiation in culture. Nature 335, 70–73 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/335070a0

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