The proliferative activity of neural precursors from the subventricular zone (SVZ) was investigated after a unilateral lesion was formed in the nigrostriatal pathway in adult rats. The lesion was formed by unilateral injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the nigrostriatal pathway, and then bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was injected (ip) for 4 days or 2 weeks 10 days after the lesion was forme...

The neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) is the major substrate for the polysialyltransferases (polySTs), ST8SiaII/STX and ST8SiaIV/PST. The polysialylation of NCAM N-glycans decreases cell adhesion and alters signaling. Previous work demonstrated that the first fibronectin type III repeat (FN1) of NCAM is required for polyST recognition and the polysialylation of the N-glycans on the adjacent ...

Adhesion of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes to the endothelial ligand intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria. Recently, a high-frequency coding polymorphism in the N-terminal domain of ICAM-1 (ICAM-1(Kilifi)) that is associated with susceptibility to cerebral disease in Kenya has been described. Preliminary static adhes...

The neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) plays an important role in nervous system development. NCAM forms a complex between its terminal domains Ig1 and Ig2. When NCAM of cell A and of cell B connect to each other through complexes Ig12(A)/Ig12(B), the relative mobility of cells A and B and membrane tension exerts a force on the Ig12(A)/Ig12(B) complex. In this study, we investigated the respo...

The neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) is a cell recognition molecule of the Ig superfamily implicated in cell migration, myelination, and synaptic plasticity, as well as elongation, fasciculation, and pathfinding of axons. Here, we used NCAM-deficient mice to investigate the role of NCAM in the development of the corticospinal tract. We demonstrate severe hypoplasia of the corticospinal trac...

During embryonic development of the cerebellum, Purkinje cells (PCs) migrate away from the ventricular zone to form the PC plate. The mechanisms that regulate PC migration are incompletely understood. Here, we report that the neurotrophic receptor GFRα1 is transiently expressed in developing PCs and loss of GFRα1 delays PC migration. Neither GDNF nor RET, the canonical GFRα1 ligand and co-recep...

Altered synaptic morphology, progressive loss of synapses and glial (astrocyte and microglial) cell activation are considered as characteristic hallmarks of aging. Recent evidence suggests that there is a concomitant age-related decrease in expression of the presynaptic protein, synaptophysin, and the neuronal glycoprotein CD200, which, by interacting with its receptor, plays a role in maintain...

At implantation, trophectoderm attaches to the apical uterine luminal epithelial cell surface. Molecular anatomy studies in humans and mice, and data from experimental models have identified several adhesion molecules that could take part in this process: integrins of the alpha v family, trophinin, CD44, cad-11, the H type I and Lewis y oligosaccharides and heparan sulfate. The endometrial cell...