title: Compartmental distribution of sulfated glycosaminoglycans in lateral and medial midbrain astroglial cultures.
abstract: Sulfated glycosaminoglycans (S-GAGs) were isolated from the pericellular (P), intracellular (I), and extracellular (E) compartments of astrocytes cultures from lateral (L) and medial (M) sectors of embryonic mouse midbrain; these sectors differ in their ability to support neurite growth (L, permissive, M, non-permissive for growth) and laminin deposition patterns (L, fibrillar; M, punctate pattern). The total amount of S-GAGs in M cultures was twice that in L cultures and was particularly high in the P compartment of M glia. Both glial cultures showed heparan sulfate (HS) in the three cellular compartments but chondroitin sulfate (CS) GAGs were vestigial in I and P compartments of L glia. Our results suggest that M and L astrocytes are heterogeneous concerning the ability to synthesize GAGs and distribute them among the different cellular compartments. Together with other data (Garcia-Abreu et al: J Neurosci Res 40:471, 1995; Garcia-Abreu et al: Neuroreport 6:761, 1995), the present results suggest that this heterogeneous features might be at least partially responsible for the differential effects of L and M glial cultures on the growth of midbrain neurons and may also be involved in complex ways in the guidance of axons at the brain midline.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biofisica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garcia-Abreu
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: F F
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Tovar
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Onofr-
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Cavalcante
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Moura Neto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice / Q000196:embryology; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D006025:Glycosaminoglycans