Use of polysialic acid in repair of the central nervous system.

ABSTRACT: Polysialic acid (PSA), a large cell-surface carbohydrate that regulates cell interactions, is used during vertebrate development to promote precursor cell migration and axon path-finding. The induction of PSA expression in damaged adult CNS tissues could help them to rebuild by creating conditions permissive for architectural remodeling. This possibility has been explored in two contexts, the regeneration of axons and the recruitment of endogenous neural precursors to a lesion. Glial scars that form at CNS injury sites block axon regeneration. It has been found that transfection of scar astrocytes by a viral vector encoding polysialyltransferase leads to sustained expression of high levels of PSA. With this treatment, a substantial portion of severed corticospinal tract axon processes were

SUBMITTER: El Maarouf A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1636566 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature