Decorin treatment of spinal cord injury.
The scarring response after a penetrant central nervous system injury results from the interaction between invading leptominingeal/pericyte-derived fibroblasts and endogenous reactive astrocytes about the wound margin. Extracellular matrix and scar-derived axon growth inhibitory molecules fill the lesion site providing both a physical and chemical barrier to regenerating axons. Decorin, a small leucine-rich chondroitin-dermatan sulphate proteoglycan expressed by neurons and astrocytes in the central nervous system, is both anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory and attenuates the formation and partial dissolution of established and chronic scars. Here, we discuss the potential of using Decorin to antagonise scarring in the central nervous system.
Neurotrauma Research Group, Neurobiology Section, School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
Maryam
M
Esmaeili
Neurotrauma Research Group, Neurobiology Section, School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
Martin
M
Berry
Neurotrauma Research Group, Neurobiology Section, School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
Ann
A
Logan
Neurotrauma Research Group, Neurobiology Section, School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
Zubair
Z
Ahmed
Decorin; chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan; matrix metalloproteases; scarring; spinal cord injury; transforming growth factor-beta