Polysialic acid-neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) expression in the adult nervous system is restricted to regions retaining a capacity for morphological plasticity. For the female rat hypothalamoneurohypophysial system (HNS), we have previously shown that lactation induces a dramatic decrease in PSA-NCAM, while leaving the level of total NCAM protein unchanged. Here, we wanted to elucida...

Several data have shown that the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) is necessary for long-term memory formation and might play a role in the structural reorganization of synapses. The NCAM, encoded by a single gene, is represented by several isoforms that differ with regard to their content of alpha-2,8-linked sialic acid residues (PSA) on their extracellular domain. The carbohydrate PSA is k...

Functional properties of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) are strongly influenced by polysialylation. We used gene-targeting to generate mice lacking ST8SiaIV/PST-1, one of the polysialyltransferases responsible for addition of polysialic acid (PSA) to NCAM. Mice homozygous for the null mutation reveal normal development of gross anatomical features. In contrast to NCAM-deficient mice, ...

The cytoadhesion of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes (IEs) to the endothelial cells lining the microvasculature, clogging the microvessels of various organs, is a key event in the pathogenesis of certain severe forms of malaria, such as cerebral malaria and pulmonary edema. Studies aiming to identify possible correlations between the severity of clinical cases and the presence of par...

We have proposed previously that the polysialic acid (PSA) moiety of NCAM can influence membrane-membrane apposition, and thereby serve as a selective regulator of a variety of contact-dependent cell interactions. In this study, cell and tissue culture models are used to obtain direct evidence that the presence of PSA on the surface membrane can affect both cell-cell and cell-substrate interact...