title: Keratan sulfate restricts neural plasticity after spinal cord injury.
abstract: Chondroitin sulfate (CS) proteoglycans are strong inhibitors of structural rearrangement after injuries of the adult CNS. In addition to CS chains, keratan sulfate (KS) chains are also covalently attached to some proteoglycans. CS and KS sometimes share the same core protein, but exist as independent sugar chains. However, the biological significance of KS remains elusive. Here, we addressed the question of whether KS is involved in plasticity after spinal cord injury. Keratanase II (K-II) specifically degraded KS, i.e., not CS, in vivo. This enzyme digestion promoted the recovery of motor and sensory function after spinal cord injury in rats. Consistent with this, axonal regeneration/sprouting was enhanced in K-II-treated rats. K-II and the CS-degrading enzyme chondroitinase ABC exerted comparable effects in vivo and in vitro. However, these two enzymes worked neither additively nor synergistically. These data and further in vitro studies involving artificial proteoglycans (KS/CS-albumin) and heat-denatured or reduced/alkylated proteoglycans suggested that all three components of the proteoglycan moiety, i.e., the core protein, CS chains, and KS chains, were required for the inhibitory activity of proteoglycans. We conclude that KS is essential for, and has an impact comparable to that of CS on, postinjury plasticity. Our study also established that KS and CS are independent requirements for the proteoglycan-mediated inhibition of axonal regeneration/sprouting.
authors: Department of Biochemistry, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan.
authors: Shiro
authors: S
authors: Imagama
authors: Kazuma
authors: K
authors: Sakamoto
authors: Ryoji
authors: R
authors: Tauchi
authors: Ryuichi
authors: R
authors: Shinjo
authors: Tomohiro
authors: T
authors: Ohgomori
authors: Zenya
authors: Z
authors: Ito
authors: Haoqian
authors: H
authors: Zhang
authors: Yoshihiro
authors: Y
authors: Nishida
authors: Nagamasa
authors: N
authors: Asami
authors: Sawako
authors: S
authors: Takeshita
authors: Nobuo
authors: N
authors: Sugiura
authors: Hideto
authors: H
authors: Watanabe
authors: Toshihide
authors: T
authors: Yamashita
authors: Naoki
authors: N
authors: Ishiguro
authors: Yukihiro
authors: Y
authors: Matsuyama
authors: Kenji
authors: K
authors: Kadomatsu
mesh_terms: D000118:Acetylglucosaminidase / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D007632:Keratan Sulfate / Q000502:physiology*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000378:metabolism*; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae
chemical_list: D007632:Keratan Sulfate; C086950:keratanase II; D000118:Acetylglucosaminidase