Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Preparation of Rat Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cultures and Quantification of Oligodendrogenesis Using Dual-infrared Fluorescence Scanning
Published on: February 17, 2016
Regulation of tyrosine phosphorylation and protein tyrosine phosphatases during oligodendrocyte differentiation
1Laboratory of Developmental Neurogenetics, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. ranjan@helix.nih.gov
Abstract:
Tyrosine phosphorylation is key to the differentiation of oligodendrocytes, as the FGF2 and PDGF receptor tyrosine kinases are known to mediate the proliferation and maintenance of their precursors. Marked changes in the levels and localization of tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins were found to accompany differentiation in the CG4 rat oligodendrocyte cell line. These alterations in phosphorylation as well as other differentiation-specific changes were found to be sensitive to inhibition by a tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor. This suggested that at some point early in the differentiation process, tyrosine phosphatases are important. A differential display strategy revealed 11 distinct tyrosine phosphatases in the oligodendrocyte lineage, with both precursor cells and oligodendrocytes expressing four major phosphatase transcripts: PTP alpha, PTP zeta, PTP sigma, and PTP gamma. A majority of the phosphatases examined show an increase in their mRNA levels during differentiation, with a striking upregulation observed for PTP epsilon. Our results suggest a significant role for this class of signal transducers in oligodendrocyte differentiation.
Related Concept Videos
Phosphorylation
During phosphorylation, protein kinases transfer the terminal phosphate group of ATP to specific amino acid side chains of substrate proteins. Serine, threonine, and tyrosine are the most commonly...
Protein Kinases and Phosphatases
Protein kinases
Many proteins in the cell are regulated by phosphorylation, the addition of a phosphate group. A family of enzymes called kinases...
Covalently Linked Protein Regulators
These groups modify specific amino acids in a protein.
Receptor Downregulation in MVBs
The EGFR can initiate signaling pathways that lead to cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation. Overexpression of EGFR stimulates cells to proliferate. Excessive EGFR activation may...
Receptor Tyrosine Kinases
PI3K/mTOR/AKT Signaling Pathway

