Lymphokines facilitate maturation of oligodendrocytes in vitro.

As oligodendrocytes develop in vitro, A2B5+ progenitor cells acquire the oligodendrocyte-specific marker, galactocerebroside (GalC), to become A2B5+ GalC+ cells. They then gradually lose reactivity to A2B5, to become A2B5- GalC+ mature oligodendrocytes. By examining this developmental surface antigen expression with and without lymphokine stimuli we found that crude lymphokines, but not interleukin-2 or gamma-interferon, facilitate this maturation process. Thus, lymphokines may have a role in differentiation of oligodendrocytes. The same lymphokine stimuli, however, did not enhance the proliferation of oligodendrocytes.