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Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Author Spotlight: A Computational Pipeline for Analyzing Chimeric Noncoding RNA-Target RNA Interactions in High-Throughput Sequencing Data
Published on: December 1, 2023
Characterization of a long noncoding RNA Pcdh17it as a novel marker for immature premyelinating oligodendrocytes
Yusuke Kasuga1,2, Alexander D Fudge1, Yumeng Zhang1
1Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, University College London, London, UK.
Abstract:
Oligodendrocyte precursors (OPs) proliferate and differentiate into oligodendrocytes (OLs) during postnatal development and into adulthood in the central nervous system (CNS). Following the initiation of differentiation, OPs give rise to immature, premyelinating OLs, which undergo further differentiation and mature into myelin-forming OLs. We identified an immature OL-specific long noncoding RNA, named Pcdh17it. Through co-localization analysis and morphological characterization of OLs, we found that Pcdh17it is a specific marker for newly born immature OLs in the developing and adult forebrain of mice, and we used this new marker to analyze OL generation over the lifespan of mice. Pcdh17it is an effective tool for monitoring newly born OLs in adult brain, allowing detailed study of the dynamics of OP differentiation into OLs in the normal and pathological CNS.
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