Candidate pathways for promoting differentiation and quiescence of oligodendrocyte progenitor-like cells in glioblastoma

The mature CNS contains PDGFRA+ ‘oligodendrocyte progenitor cells’ (OPC) which may remain quiescent, proliferate, or differentiate into oligodendrocytes. In human gliomas, rapidly proliferating Olig2+ cells resembling OPCs are frequently observed. We sought to identify, in vivo, candidate pathways uniquely required for OPC differentiation or quiescence. Using the bacTRAP methodology, we generated and analyzed mouse lines for translational profiling the major cells types (including OPCs), in the normal mouse brain. We then profiled oligodendoglial (Olig2+) cells from a mouse model of Pdgf-driven glioma. This analysis confirmed that Olig2+ tumor cells are most similar to OPCs, yet, it identified differences in key progenitor genes - candidates for promotion of differentiation or quiescence. There are two datasets here. One characterizes the normal translational profiles of neurons, astrocytes, mature and immature oligodendrocytes. Each cell type was profiled in triplicate, from pools of at least two mice, and total RNA controls were collected in parallel. The second dataset includes translational profiles of Olig2 positive cells from tumors form several variations of a murine model of glioma. Each variation was collected at least in triplicate, and total RNA controls were analyzed in parallel. All translational profiles were generated using the Translating Ribosome Affinity Purification protocol.