Versican V2 assembles the extracellular matrix surrounding the nodes of ranvier in the CNS.

ABSTRACT: The CNS-restricted versican splice-variant V2 is a large chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan incorporated in the extracellular matrix surrounding myelinated fibers and particularly accumulating at nodes of Ranvier. In vitro, it is a potent inhibitor of axonal growth and therefore considered to participate in the reduction of structural plasticity connected to myelination. To study the role of versican V2 during postnatal development, we designed a novel isoform-specific gene inactivation approach circumventing early embryonic lethality of the complete knock-out and preventing compensation by the remaining versican splice variants. These mice are viable and fertile; however, they display major molecular alterations at the nodes of Ranvier. While the clustering of nodal sodium channels and para

SUBMITTER: Dours-Zimmermann MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6665632 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature