Figure 7.

Olig2+ cells give rise to myelinating Schwann cells after SCI. Olig2creER:YFP mice were used to fate-map oligodendroglial lineage cells. a, In the uninjured thoracic spinal cord, recombination (YFP; green) occurred in Olig2+ cells (white) across the oligodendrocyte lineage [preferentially observed in CC1+ oligodendrocytes (red) and to a lesser extent PDGFRα+ OPCs (blue)] and a subset of gray matter GFAP+ astrocytes. b, There was no recombination observed in cells associated with the central canal [blue outline surrounds central canal; split channels with axons (white) and YFP (green); b″] or the PNS (dorsal root; b‴). c, 12 weeks after SCI, YFP+ cells were abundant at the lesion epicenter and a subset of the YFP+ cells demonstrated typical Schwann cell markers and morphology in the dorsal columns (c′, c″) and in close proximity to a cavitation at the epicenter (d, d′). All images were taken in spinal cord cross sections. Scale bars: a–c, 200 μm; d, 50 μm; a′, 20 μm; b′, b″, b‴, c′, c″, d′, 10 μm.