Topic summary
Precursor cells
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Precursor cell.
Medical significance
One large subcategory of progenitor cells are neural precursor cells (NPCs), which consist of oligodendrocyte, astrocyte, and neuronal precursor cells. Once differentiation into these precursor cells occurs, fate restriction happens and the cells are unlikely to become another type. Some current research is exploring the ability to reverse fate restriction—allowing for precursor cells to become other types of precursor cells. NPCs have a variety of applications in medicine, with research focusing on all subsets. Glial precursor cells, namely oligodendrocyte precursor cells, are being explored for application in treating leukodystrophies—including lysosomal storage disorders and hypomyelination disorders.