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Emerging Roles of Heparan Sulfate in Axon Guidance Signaling

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Cortical Development

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Abstract

Accurate wiring of the neural network is a fundamental for higher brain functions. In the developing brain, growing axons are navigated towards their targets by the concerted actions of chemoattractants and chemorepellents. Recent studies have revealed that heparan sulfate, a glycosaminoglycan sugar chain attached to core proteins in proteoglycans, plays pivotal roles in regulating axon guidance signaling. Here some of the topics related to heparan sulfate in axon guidance are reviewed with emphasis on its structure and activity in relation to its synthesizing and modifying enzymes.

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Abbreviations

BMP:

Bone morphogenetic protein

DCC:

Deleted in colorectal cancer

FGF:

Fibroblast growth factor

GDNF:

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor

GlcA:

Glucuronic acid

GlcNAc:

N-acetylglucosamine

HB-EGF:

Heparin-binding epidermal growth factor

HGF:

Hepatocyte growth factor

HS:

Heparan sulfate

HSPG:

Heparan sulfate proteoglycans

IdoA:

Iduronic acid

Shh:

Sonic hedgehog

TGFβ:

Transforming growth factor-β

VEGF:

Vascular endothelial growth factor

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Neurobiology, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8575, Japan

    Masayuki Masu

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  1. Masayuki Masu
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Correspondence to Masayuki Masu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Virus Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan

    Ryoichiro Kageyama

  2. Division of Brain Biology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan

    Tetsuo Yamamori

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Masu, M. (2013). Emerging Roles of Heparan Sulfate in Axon Guidance Signaling. In: Kageyama, R., Yamamori, T. (eds) Cortical Development. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54496-8_9

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