Extracellular sugar modifications provide instructive and cell-specific information for axon-guidance choices.

ABSTRACT: Heparan sulfates (HSs) are extraordinarily complex extracellular sugar molecules that are critical components of multiple signaling systems controlling neuronal development. The molecular complexity of HSs arises through a series of specific modifications, including sulfations of sugar residues and epimerizations of their glucuronic acid moieties. The modifications are introduced nonuniformly along protein-attached HS polysaccharide chains by specific enzymes. Genetic analysis has demonstrated the importance of specific HS-modification patterns for correct neuronal development. However, it remains unclear whether HS modifications provide a merely permissive substrate or whether they provide instructive patterning information during development. We show here with single-cell resolution that

SUBMITTER: Bulow HE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2765105 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature