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Chemistry and Function of Glycosaminoglycans in the Nervous System

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Glycobiology of the Nervous System

Part of the book series: Advances in Neurobiology ((NEUROBIOL,volume 29))

Abstract

Proteoglycans, and especially their GAG components, participate in numerous biologically significant interactions with growth factors, chemokines, morphogens, guidance molecules, survival factors, and other extracellular and cell-surface components. These interactions are often critical to the basic developmental processes of cellular proliferation and differentiation, as well as to both the onset of disease sequelae and prevention of disease progression. In many tissues, proteoglycans and especially their glycosaminoglycan (GAG) components are mediators of these processes. The GAG family is characterized by covalently linked repeating disaccharides forming long unbranched polysaccharide chains. Thus far in higher eukaryotes, the family consists of chondroitin sulfate (CS), heparin/heparan sulfate (HS), dermatan sulfate (DS), keratan sulfate (KS) and hyaluronan (HA). All GAG chains (except HA) are characteristically modified by varying amounts of esterified sulfate. One or more GAG chains are usually found in nature bound to polypeptide backbones in the form of proteoglycans; HA is the exception. In the nervous system, GAG/proteoglycan-mediated interactions participate in proliferation and synaptogenesis, neural plasticity, and regeneration. This review focuses on the structure, chemistry and function of GAGs in nervous system development, disease, function and injury response.

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Abbreviations

APP:

β-amyloid precursor protein

CS:

Chondroitin sulfate

DS:

Dermatan sulfate

FGF:

Fibroblast growth factor

GAG:

Glycosaminoglycan

Gal:

Galactose

GalNAc:

N-acetylgalactosamine

GB:

Glioblastoma

GlcA:

Glucuronic acid

GlcN:

Glucosamine

GlcNAc:

N-acetyl glucosamine

HA:

Hyaluronan

HS:

Heparan sulfate

IdoA:

Iduronic acid

LAR:

Leukocyte common antigen-related phosphatase

NDST:

N-deacetylase/N-sulfotransferases

NSC:

Neural stem cell

PAPS:

3′-phosphoadenosine 5′-phosphosulfate

PNN:

Perineuronal net

VZ:

Ventricular zone

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Correspondence to Nancy B. Schwartz .

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Schwartz, N.B., Domowicz, M.S. (2023). Chemistry and Function of Glycosaminoglycans in the Nervous System. In: Schengrund, CL., Yu, R.K. (eds) Glycobiology of the Nervous System. Advances in Neurobiology, vol 29. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12390-0_5

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