Affiliations: Laboratoire de Neurobiologie du Développement
et de la Régénération (LNDR), Centre de Neurochimie, 5,
Rue Blaise Pascal, 67084 Strasbourg Cedex, France
Note: [] Present address: Department of Cell Morphology and Molecular
Neurobiology, Ruhr-University, Building NDEF 05/593, Universitätsstr. 150,
44780 Bochum, Germany.
Abstract: The differentiation and morphogenesis of neural tissues involves a
diversity of interactions between neural cells and their environment. Many
potentially important interactions occur with the extracellular matrix (ECM), a
complex association of extracellular molecules organised into aggregates and
polymers. The large modular glycoprotein, Tenascin-C, and the chondroitin
sulphate proteoglycan, DSD-1-PG/Phosphacan, have complex and frequently
overlapping expression patterns in the developing CNS. Their presence in zones
of cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation, as well as in boundary
structures, suggest that they may be involved in the modulation of an extensive
range of cellular processes. They are both strongly up-regulated in a range of
CNS lesions and pathologies, being components of the glial scar, and expressed
by gliomas. Functional roles in many cellular processes are possible through
their extensive molecular interaction sites, both with each other, and with
many of the same cell surface receptors, adhesion molecules, growth factors and
other matrix proteins. These multiple interactions involve sites on both their
protein domains and on the heterogeneous carbohydrate groups with which they
are post-translationally modified. In vitro assays demonstrate cell-type
specific effects on adhesion, migration and the formation and extension of
cellular processes, including neurites and axons.
