Polysialic acid (PSA), a carbohydrate polymer attached to the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM), promotes neural plasticity and tumor malignancy, but its mode of action is controversial. Here we establish that PSA controls tumor cell growth and differentiation by interfering with NCAM signaling at cell-cell contacts. Interactions between cells with different PSA and NCAM expression profiles ...

Functional maturation of GABAergic innervation in the developing visual cortex is regulated by neural activity and sensory inputs and in turn influences the critical period of ocular dominance plasticity. Here we show that polysialic acid (PSA), presented by the neural cell adhesion molecule, has a role in the maturation of GABAergic innervation and ocular dominance plasticity. Concentrations o...

BACKGROUND Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been used to treat stroke for thousands of years. The objective of the study is to assess the current evidence for bioactive components of CHM as neurogenesis agent in animal models of ischemic stroke. METHODS We searched PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang Database, and VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals published ...

Polysialic acid (PSA) on the extracellular domain of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) reduces cell adhesion and is considered an important regulator of cell surface interactions. The hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system (HNS), whose glia, neurons, and synapses undergo striking, reversible morphological changes in response to physiological stimulation, expresses high levels of PSA-NCAM th...

The adult mammalian subventricular zone (SVZ) contains stem cells that give rise to neurons and glia. In vivo, SVZ progeny migrate 3-8 mm to the olfactory bulb, where they form neurons. We show here that the SVZ of the lateral wall of the lateral ventricles in adult mice is composed of neuroblasts, glial cells, and a novel putative precursor cell. The topographical organization of these cells s...

Polysialic acid (polySia) is a unique linear homopolymer of α2,8-linked sialic acid that has been studied extensively as a posttranslational modification of neural cell adhesion molecule in the central nervous system. Only two proteins are known to be polysialylated in cells of the immune system: CD56 on human natural killer cells and murine bone marrow (BM) leukocytes, and neuropilin-2 (NRP-2)...

Neuronal function and innervation density is regulated by target organ-derived neurotrophic factors. Although cardiac hypertrophy drastically alternates the expression of various growth factors such as endothelin-1, angiotensin II, and leukemia inhibitory factor, little is known about nerve growth factor expression and its effect on the cardiac sympathetic nerves. This study investigated the im...

The adult central nervous system (CNS) appears to initiate a transient increase in plasticity following injury, including increases in growth-related proteins and generation of new cells. Recent evidence is reviewed that the injured adult CNS exhibits events and patterns of gene expression that are also observed during development and during regeneration following damage to the mature periphera...

New neurons are added on a daily basis to the olfactory bulb (OB) of a mammal, and this phenomenon exists throughout its lifetime. These new cells are born in the subventricular zone and migrate to the OB via the rostral migratory stream (RMS). To examine the role of the prokineticin receptor 2 (Prokr2) in neurogenesis, we created a Prokr2 null mouse, and report a decrease in the volume of its ...