title: Polysialic acid modification of the synaptic cell adhesion molecule SynCAM 1 in human embryonic stem cell-derived oligodendrocyte precursor cells.
abstract: Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) are the progenitors of myelinating oligodendrocytes in brain development and repair. Successful myelination depends on the control of adhesiveness during OPC migration and axon contact formation. The decoration of cell surface proteins with the glycan polysialic acid (polySia) is a key regulatory element of OPC interactions during development and under pathological conditions. By far the major protein carrier of polySia is the neural cell adhesion molecule NCAM, but recently, polysialylation of the synaptic cell adhesion molecule SynCAM 1 has been detected in the developing mouse brain. In mice, polySia-SynCAM 1 is associated with cells expressing NG2, a marker of a heterogeneous precursor cell population, which is the primary source for oligodendrocytes in development and myelin repair but can also give rise to astrocytes and possibly neurons. It is not yet clear if polySia-SynCAM 1 is expressed by OPCs and its occurrence in humans is elusive. By generating uniform human embryonic stem cell-derived OPC cultures, we demonstrate that polySia is present on human OPCs but down-regulated during differentiation into myelin basic protein-positive oligodendrocytes. PolySia on NCAM resides on the isoforms NCAM-180 and NCAM-140, and SynCAM 1 is identified as a novel polySia acceptor in human OPCs.
authors: Institute for Cellular Chemistry, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Straße 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany; Center for Systems Neuroscience (ZSN), Bünteweg 2, 30559 Hannover, Germany.
authors: Sebastian
authors: S
authors: Werneburg
authors: Institute for Cellular Chemistry, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Straße 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany.
authors: Falk F R
authors: FF
authors: Buettner
authors: Institute for Cellular Chemistry, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Straße 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany.
authors: Martina
authors: M
authors: Mühlenhoff
authors: Institute for Cellular Chemistry, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Straße 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany; Center for Systems Neuroscience (ZSN), Bünteweg 2, 30559 Hannover, Germany. Electronic address: hildebrandt.herbert@mh-hannover.de.
authors: Herbert
authors: H
authors: Hildebrandt
mesh_terms: D002448:Cell Adhesion; D000075982:Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015536:Down-Regulation; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000378:metabolism*; D019006:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000378:metabolism*; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000166:cytology*; D012794:Sialic Acids / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C403514:CADM1 protein, human; D000075982:Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D007136:Immunoglobulins; D019006:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules; D012794:Sialic Acids; C021319:polysialic acid