The fact that oligodendrocytes did not show similar spatial patterns—despite being derived from the same initially patterned neural tube as neurons and astocytes—reveals a loss of regional patterning in the oligodendrocyte lineage, presumably because region-specific patterning is transient and not converted to permanent states in these lineages. Alternatively—as suggested by the fact that OPCs aligned molecularly with neural-crest-derived glia—the transformation to a neural-crest-like state may involve an endogenous and naturally occurring cellular reprogramming analogous to the reprogramming of cells by overexpression of transcription factors.
