Production and use of lentivirus to selectively transduce primary oligodendrocyte precursor cells for in vitro myelination assays

Abstract

Myelination is a complex process that involves both neurons and the myelin forming glial cells, oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system (CNS) and Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). We use an in vitro myelination assay, an established model for studying CNS myelination in vitro. To do this, oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) are added to the purified primary rodent dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons to form myelinating co-cultures. In order to specifically interrogate the roles that particular proteins expressed by oligodendrocytes exert upon myelination we have developed protocols that selectively transduce OPCs using the lentivirus overexpressing wild type, con..