Stroke is the dominant cause of sensorimotor disability that primarily affects the elderly. We now show that neuroplasticity and functional recovery after stroke is constrained by inhibitory chondroitin sulphates. In two blinded, randomized preclinical trials, degradation of chondroitin sulphate using chondroitinase ABC reactivated neuroplasticity and promoted sensorimotor recovery after stroke...

Physical and chemical constraints imposed by the periinfarct glial scar may contribute to the limited clinical improvement often observed after ischemic brain injury. To investigate the role of some of these mediators in outcome from cerebral ischemia, we treated rats with the growth-inhibitory chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan neurocan, the growth-stimulating heparan sulfate proteoglycan glypic...

PURPOSE The aim of this study is to investigate the synergistic effect of chondroitinase ABC and growth factors in the integration of murine retinal progenitor cells (mRPCs) transplanted into Rho(-/-) mice. METHODS mRPCs from P1 green fluorescent protein-transgenic mice were isolated and expanded for transplantation. All mRPCs of 20 passages or less were transplanted into the subretinal space...

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was applied to determine the action pattern of different chondroitin lyases. Two commercial enzymes, chondroitinase ABC (Proteus vulgaris) and chondroitinase ACII (Arthrobacter aurescens), having action patterns previously determined by viscosimetry and gel electrophoresis were first examined. Next, the action patterns of recombinant lyases, chondroitinas...

Visual deficits caused by abnormal visual experience during development are hard to recover in adult animals. Removal of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans from the mature extracellular matrix with chondroitinase ABC promotes plasticity in the adult visual cortex. We tested whether chondroitinase ABC treatment of adult rats facilitates anatomical, functional, and behavioral recovery from the eff...

Recent results show that type IX collagen isolated from chicken cartilage is associated with one or perhaps two chondroitin sulfate chains. To locate the chondroitin sulfate chain(s) along the type IX collagen molecule, rotary shadowing was performed in the presence of monoclonal antibodies which recognize stubs of chondroitin sulfate generated after chondroitinase ABC digestion. Monoclonal ant...

We have previously demonstrated that enzymatic digestion of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSPG) at the scar promotes the axonal regrowth of Clarke's nucleus (CN) neurons into an implanted peripheral nerve graft after hemisection of the spinal cord. The present study examined whether degradation of CSPG using chondroitinase ABC promoted the regeneration of CN neurons through the scar into th...

objective(s):spinal cord injury (sci) is one of the most serious clinical diseases and its treatment has been a subject of interest to researchers. there are two important therapeutic strategies in the treatment of sci: replacing lost tissue cells through cells implantation and scar elimination. therefore, in this study we used human adipose-derived stem cells (hadscs) implantation and injectio...

The chondroitinases are bacterial lyases that specifically cleave chondroitin sulfate and/or dermatan sulfate glycosaminoglycans. One of these enzymes, chondroitinase ABC I from Proteus vulgaris, has the broadest substrate specificity and has been widely used to depolymerize these glycosaminoglycans. Biochemical and structural studies to investigate the active site of chondroitinase ABC I have ...

In recent studies related to injury to the central nervous system, researchers have found that galactosaminoglycans can serve as inhibitors to neuron regeneration. The chondroitinase enzyme family is comprised of several bacterial lyases known to dissolve galactosaminoglycans in the extracellular matrix. Although several studies have shown the benefit of using chondroitinase enzymes for treatme...