The aim of the present study was to investigate whether enzyme chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) treatment influences the phenotype of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) derived from injured rat spinal cord. Adult as well as fetal spinal cords contain a pool of endogenous neural progenitors cells, which play a key role in the neuroregenerative processes following spinal cord injury (SCI) and hold particul...

Rabbit annulus fibrosus and nucleus pulposus were analysed for hydroxyproline, chondroitin sulphate, keratan sulphate and dermatan sulphate. Tissue proteoglycans were stained for electron microscopy with Cupromeronic blue, used in the critical electrolyte concentration mode, with and without prior digestion by chondroitinase AC or ABC, hyaluronidase or keratanase. Collagen bands, a-e were demon...

Chondroitin sulfate is known to be present in normal and leukemic myeloid cells; however. its definitive subcellular location and association with other glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) has not been demonstrated. We have studied the type and distribution of GAGs in neutrophil granule subpopulations of normal and leukemic myeloid cells using ultrastructural. cytochemical. immunologic. and biochemical m...

A monoclonal antibody, 9.2.27, with a high specificity for human melanoma cell surfaces has been utilized for biosynthetic studies in M21 human melanoma cells to define a unique antigenic complex consisting of a 250-kilodalton N-linked glycoprotein and a high molecular weight proteoglycan component larger than 400 kilodaltons. The 250-kilodalton glycoprotein has endoglycosidase H-sensitive prec...

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), including chondroitin sulfate (CS), dermatan sulfate, heparin, heparan sulfate and keratan sulfate (KS) are linear sulfated repeating disaccharide sequences containing hexosamine and uronic acid [or galactose (Gal) in the case of KS]. Among the GAGs, CS shows structural variations, such as sulfation patterns and fucosylation, which are responsible for their physiologi...

A mixture of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains from a plasma proteoglycan bikunin was fractionated using native, continuous-elution polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and the resulting fractions were analyzed by electrospray ionization Fourier transform mass spectrometry (ESI FTMS). Molecular mass analysis of the intact GAG afforded information about the length and composition of GAG chains in th...

The composition of the extracellular material of the cribriform meshwork was compared in five normal and 13 glaucomatous eyes of the same age group (58 to 70 years). Enzymatic digestion and histochemical methods applicable to electron microscopy were used. In both groups of eyes the ground substance was sensitive to chondroitinase ABC, and also the other methods showed no qualitative difference...

Stem Cells for Recovery of Human Central Nervous System Function. " In response to the Route 28 challenge, we propose a novel combinatorial treatment approach using multiple biological interventions in conjunction with controlled electrical stimulation to enhance the benefits of a cellular replacement strategy. Using an aligned polymer scaffold seeded with embryonic neural stem cells, we aim to...

Proteoglycan synthesis by sternal chondrocytes was studied in the presence of excess vitamin A (10 i.u./ml). Proteoglycans synthesized by the treated cells were smaller, and had larger amounts of chondroitinase ABC-resistant materials than control cells. Vitamin A-pretreated cells, when provided with normal feeding medium, failed to revert back to normal morphology and synthetic processes. Chon...