Co-cultures were prepared as described in Figure 9. (A–B) Examples of MBP immunostaining in 7 days old co-cultures. Scale bar = 40µm. Yellow arrows indicate oligodendrocyte-neurite contact points. (C) Real-time PCR experiments were performed using total mRNA extracted from 7 days old co-cultures and specific primers for CNPase, CGT, MAG, PLP and MBP (Table II). (D) Immunocytochemical analysis of oligodendrocyte differentiation markers and myelin protein expression in 7 days old co-cultures. OPCs were stained with antibodies against PDGFr, NG2, CC1, PLP and MBP and the percentage of positive cells in each experimental condition was examined by confocal microscopy. (E) Western blot analysis of myelin proteins expression in 7 days old co-cultures was performed using P84, GAPDH and β-actin as internal standards. Data from three independent experiments are summarized based on the relative spot intensities and plotted as percent of controls. Values are expressed as mean ± SEM of four independent experiments. **p<0.01, ***p<0.001 vs. respective controls. ICC: Immunocytochemistry, qPCR: quantitative real-time PCR, WB: Western blot.