Perineuronal nets (PNs) in the brains of tenascin-R-deficient (tn-r(-/-)) mice develop in temporal concordance with those of wild-type (tn-r(+/+)) mice. However, the histological appearance of PNs is abnormal in adult tn-r(-/-) mice. Here, we investigated whether similar defects are also seen in dissociated and organotypic cultures from hippocampus and forebrain of tn-r(-/-) mice and whether th...

Background: A study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between inflammatory cells and structural changes in the mucosa of the airways in an epidemiological sample of a group of asymptomatic smokers (smokers who had never sought medical attention for respiratory problems) and in nonsmoking subjects. Methods: Bronchial biopsy specimens were taken from 29 smokers and 16 never smokers a...

The immunohistological distributions of fibronectin, tenascin, type I, III and IV collagens, and laminin were observed in the tooth buds of fetuses of minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata. Distributions of extracellular matrices (ECMs) examined in this study except for tenascin were generally similar to those of terrestrial mammalian species during development of the tooth bud. Tenascin in t...

OBJECTIVES To analyze the expression and distribution pattern of extracellular matrix components in pleomorphic adenomas of the major and minor salivary glands and to compare the morphological findings of these tumors with the immunohistochemical expression, considering the different types of stroma predominating in each case. METHODS AND RESULTS The expression of tenascin (TN) and fibronecti...

BACKGROUND The use of highly reproducible and spatiallyhomogeneous thin film matrices permits automated microscopy and quantitative determination of the response of hundreds of cells in a population. Using thin films of extracellular matrix proteins, we have quantified, on a cell-by-cell basis, phenotypic parameters of cells on different extracellular matrices. We have quantitatively examined t...

UNLABELLED After CNS injury, axon regeneration is blocked by an inhibitory environment consisting of the highly upregulated tenascin-C and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs). Tenascin-C promotes growth of axons if they express a tenascin-binding integrin, particularly α9β1. Additionally, integrins can be inactivated by CSPGs, and this inhibition can be overcome by the presence of a β1-bi...

Cleft palate is a common birth defect in humans. Elevation and fusion of paired palatal shelves are coordinated by growth and transcription factors, and mutations in these can cause malformations. Among the effector genes for growth factor signaling are extracellular matrix (ECM) glycoproteins. These provide substrates for cell adhesion (e.g., fibronectin, tenascins), but also regulate growth f...

Organ-specific patterning is partly determined by Hox gene regulatory interactions with the extracellular matrix (ECM), cell adhesion and fibroblast growth factor (FGFs) signaling pathways but coordination of these mechanisms in lung development is unknown. We have previously shown that Hoxb-5 affects airway patterning during lung morphogenesis. Hoxb-5 regulation in fetal lung affects ECM expre...

We have produced a set of bacterial expression proteins corresponding to 10 segments of tenascin and two of fibronectin and tested them for heparin binding and cell adhesion. We used polymerase chain reaction cloning to terminate the segments precisely at domain boundaries. Heparin binding activity was mapped to two different tenascin segments: one comprising the fourth and fifth fibronectin ty...

Many proteins have been hypothesized to mediate intercellular interactions that regulate the formation, maturation, and maintenance of the skeletal neuromuscular junction. Three of the best characterized of these are a membrane-associated adhesion molecule, neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM), an extracellular matrix component, tenascin-C, and a soluble growth factor, fibroblast growth factor...