NG2-glia as multipotent neural stem cells: fact or fantasy?
Open accessAbstract
Cycling glial precursors-"NG2-glia"-are abundant in the developing and mature central nervous system (CNS). During development, they generate oligodendrocytes. In culture, they can revert to a multipotent state, suggesting that they might have latent stem cell potential that could be harnessed to treat neurodegenerative disease. This hope has been subdued recently by a series of fate-mapping studies that cast NG2-glia as dedicated oligodendrocyte precursors in the healthy adult CNS-though rare, neuron production in the piriform cortex remains a possibility. Following CNS damage, the repertoire of NG2-glia expands to include Schwann cells and possibly astrocytes-but so far not neurons. This reaffirms the central role of NG2-glia in myelin repair. The realization that oligodendrocyte generation continues throughout normal adulthood has seeded the idea that myelin genesis might also be involved in neural plasticity. We review these developments, highlighting areas of current interest, contention, and speculation.
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Myelin damage could impair neuroplasticity and skilled motor learning and thereby contribute to cognitive impairment.
“In addition, since myelination of previously naked fibers participates in neuroplasticity and skilled motor learning (Fields, 2010; Richardson et al., 2011), myelin damage could also compromise these important functions and contribute to cognitive impairment.”
From The Pathobiology of Vascular Dementia (2013) · cites this paper as Richardson et al., 2011
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References 122 · Cited by 300
- Authors
- Richardson, W. D., Young, K. M., Tripathi, R. B., & McKenzie, I.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- University of Tasmania (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Richardson, William D.
- Venue
- Neuron
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2011-05
- Volume
- 70
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 661-673
- ISSN
- 0896-6273 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3119948
- OpenAlex
- W2083536525
- Cited by
- 300
- References
- 122
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 41 · 2014: 41 · 2013: 38 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 11.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Neuron (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eCite Digital Repository (University of Tasmania) (submittedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- Royal Society
- Bupa Foundation
- Medical Research Council
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS059893)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Genetics › Mesenchymal stem cell research
- Keywords
- NG2 glia, oligodendrocyte precursor cells, oligodendrocyte generation, remyelination, Schwann cells, astrocytes, neurogenesis, piriform cortex, fate mapping, neurodegenerative diseases, neuroplasticity
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Astrocytes, Humans, Neuroglia, Neurons, Oligodendroglia, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Multipotent Stem Cells
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