| OCR Text |
Show 11 studies show CS to coincide with developing axonal pathways (78-80). Neurocan and phosphacan are good examples of the contrasting roles of CSPGs. While phosphacan was reported to promote neurite outgrowth in rat cortical neurons, neurocan inhibited the growth in embryonic chick neurons (57, 81). Evidences suggest that the stimulatory/inhibitory functions of CSPGs depend on their spatiotemporal expression and interactions that are defined by their structural patterns. Interactions of CS chains with various signaling molecules lead to promotion of neurite growth. RPTPβ is expressed on migrating neurons and binds to growth factors through its CS side chains (57, 82). Several studies also claim that RPTPβ is associated with CSPG-mediated inhibition in the CNS. For example, Shen et al. have shown that after dorsal column injury, sensory axons grow deeper in RPTPβ mutant mice than they do in wild type mice (83). Some mechanistic pathways are emerging from our present knowledge on the roles of CS in controlling neuronal outgrowth. For example, blood brain barrier leakage of blood protein fibrinogen containing transforming growth factorβ (TGF-β) is thought to induce CS production in reactive astrocytes by activating the TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway (84-87). Fibrinogen, carrying the latent TGFβ complex, then phosphorylates Smad2 in astrocytes, leading to inhibitory scar formation and limiting neurite outgrowth (84). CS has been reported to inhibit axonal growth by interacting with leukocyte common antigen-related phosphatase, Nogo receptors (NgR1 and NgR3), and the EGF receptors (88-90). The converging downstream effector of most CSPG-related inhibitory pathways |