Brain sweet brain: importance of sugars for the cerebral microenvironment and tumor development (original) (raw)
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International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, 2002
Proteoglycans are considered to be important molecule in cell-microenvironment interactions. They are overexpressed in neoplastic cells modifying their growth and migration in hosts. In this work we verified that undersulfation of proteoglycans and other sulfated molecules, induced by sodium chlorate treatment, inhibited C6 glioma cells proliferation in a dose-dependent way. This effect was restored by the addition of exogenous heparin. We could not detect significant cell mortality in our culture condition. The treatment also impaired in a dose-dependent manner, C6 cell adhesion to extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins (collagen IV, laminin and fibronectin). In addition, sodium chlorate treatment altered C6 glioma cell morphology, from the fibroblast-like to a more rounded one. This effect was accompanied by increased synthesis of fibronectin and alterations in its extracellular network organization. However, we could not observe modifications on laminin organization and synthesis. The results suggest an important connection between sulfation degree with important tumor functions, such as proliferation and adhesion. We suggest that proteoglycans may modulate the glioma microenvironment network during tumor cell progression and invasion.
The Journal of Neuroscience, 2013
Glioblastoma (GBM) remains the most pervasive and lethal of all brain malignancies. One factor that contributes to this poor prognosis is the highly invasive character of the tumor. GBM is characterized by microscopic infiltration of tumor cells throughout the brain, whereas non-neural metastases, as well as select lower grade gliomas, develop as self-contained and clearly delineated lesions. Illustrated by rodent xenograft tumor models as well as pathological human patient specimens, we present evidence that one fundamental switch between these two distinct pathologies–invasion and noninvasion–is mediated through the tumor extracellular matrix. Specifically, noninvasive lesions are associated with a rich matrix containing substantial amounts of glycosylated chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs), whereas glycosylated CSPGs are essentially absent from diffusely infiltrating tumors. CSPGs, acting as central organizers of the tumor microenvironment, dramatically influence resident ...
The role of proteoglycans in cell adhesion, migration and proliferation
Current Opinion in Cell Biology, 1992
Proteoglycans comprise a part of the extracellular matrix that participates in the molecular events that regulate cell adhesion, migration and proliferation. Their structural diversity and tissue distribution suggest a functional versatility not generally encountered for other extracellular matrix components. This versatility is mainly dictated by their molecular interactions and their ability to regulate the activity of key molecules involved in several biological events. This molecular cooperativity either promotes or inhibits cell adhesion, migration and proliferation. A growing number of studies indicate that proteoglycans can play a direct role in these cellular events by functioning either as receptors or as ligands for molecules that are required for these events to occur. Such studies support a role for proteoglycans as important effecters of cellular processes that constitute the basis of development and disease.
Proteoglycans in the developing brain: new conceptual insights for old proteins
Physiological reviews, 2000
Proteoglycans are a heterogeneous class of proteins bearing sulfated glycosaminoglycans. Some of the proteoglycans have distinct core protein structures, and others display similarities and thus may be grouped into families such as the syndecans, the glypicans, or the hyalectans (or lecticans). Proteoglycans can be found in almost all tissues being present in the extracellular matrix, on cellular surfaces, or in intracellular granules. In recent years, brain proteoglycans have attracted growing interest due to their highly regulated spatiotemporal expression during nervous system development and maturation. There is increasing evidence that different proteoglycans act as regulators of cell migration, axonal pathfinding, synaptogenesis, and structural plasticity. This review summarizes the most recent data on structures and functions of brain proteoglycans and focuses on new physiological concepts for their potential roles in the developing central nervous system.
Glycobiology, 1999
The method of affinity coelectrophoresis was used to study the binding of nine representative glycosaminoglycan (GAG)-binding proteins, all thought to play roles in nervous system development, to GAGs and proteoglycans isolated from developing rat brain. Binding to heparin and non-neural heparan and chondroitin sulfates was also measured. All nine proteins-laminin-1, fibronectin, thrombospondin-1, NCAM, L1, protease nexin-1, urokinase plasminogen activator, thrombin, and fibroblast growth factor-2-bound brain heparan sulfate less strongly than heparin, but the degree of difference in affinity varied considerably. Protease nexin-1 bound brain heparan sulfate only 1.8-fold less tightly than heparin (K d values of 35 vs. 20 nM, respectively), whereas NCAM and L1 bound heparin well (K d ∼140 nM) but failed to bind detectably to brain heparan sulfate (K d > 3 µM). Four proteins bound brain chondroitin sulfate, with affinities equal to or a few fold stronger than the same proteins displayed toward cartilage chondroitin sulfate. Overall, the highest affinities were observed with intact heparan sulfate proteoglycans: laminin-1's affinities for the proteoglycans cerebroglycan (glypican-2), glypican-1 and syndecan-3 were 300-to 1800-fold stronger than its affinity for brain heparan sulfate. In contrast, the affinities of fibroblast growth factor-2 for cerebroglycan and for brain heparan sulfate were similar. Interestingly, partial proteolysis of cerebroglycan resulted in a >400-fold loss of laminin affinity. These data support the views that (1) GAG-binding proteins can be differentially sensitive to variations in GAG structure, and (2) core proteins can have dramatic, ligand-specific influences on protein-proteoglycan interactions.
Cancer research, 1996
An important contributor to the malignancy of brain tumors is their ability to infiltrate the brain. Extracellular matrix molecules and cell adhesion molecules on cell surfaces play key roles in cell migration. In the present study, we used reaggregates of dissociated cells from freshly excised human brain tumors to analyze the migration of cells from human brain tumors of different types and grades on many different adhesion proteins adsorbed to glass substrates. Proteins were chosen based on their presence in normal or neoplastic nervous tissue, and included the extra-cellular matrix molecules fibronectin, collagens, fibrinogen, laminin, tenascin-C, thrombospondin, and the neuron-glia cell adhesion molecule, Ng-CAM. Cells from astrocytomas (n = 24) migrated on a variety of substrates, in contrast to cells from primitive neuroectodermal tumors cells (n=6), which only migrated well on laminin, fibronectin, or type IV collagen but not on the other substrates. Typically, migrating cel...
Development, Growth & Differentiation, 2012
The small leucine-rich repeat proteoglycan (SLRPs) family of proteins currently consists of five classes, based on their structural composition and chromosomal location. As biologically active components of the extracellular matrix (ECM), SLRPs were known to bind to various collagens, having a role in regulating fibril assembly, organization and degradation. More recently, as a function of their diverse proteins cores and glycosaminoglycan side chains, SLRPs have been shown to be able to bind various cell surface receptors, growth factors, cytokines and other ECM components resulting in the ability to influence various cellular functions. Their involvement in several signaling pathways such as Wnt, transforming growth factor-b and epidermal growth factor receptor also highlights their role as matricellular proteins. SLRP family members are expressed during neural development and in adult neural tissues, including ocular tissues. This review focuses on describing SLRP family members involvement in neural development with a brief summary of their role in non-neural ocular tissues and in response to neural injury.