Shen Aiguo, Yan Jun, Ding Fei, Gu Xiaosong, Zhu Dan, Gu Jianxin
Box 103, Gene Research Center, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University (Former Shanghai Medical University), 200032, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
Neurosci Lett. 2003 May 22;342(3):159-62. doi: 10.1016/s0304-3940(03)00271-4.
The cell surface beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase I (beta-1,4-GalT-I) functions as one of the receptors of laminin during the neurite outgrowth on basal lamina by binding to N-linked oligosaccharides in the laminin E8 domain. In this study, we demonstrated that the purified rat Schwann cells transfected with the expression plasmid of beta-1,4-GalT-I cDNA transiently promoted outgrowth and elongation of the neurites from co-cultured rat dorsal root ganglia, while those transfected with the antisense expression plasmid of beta-1,4-GalT-I had the opposite effects. These results suggested that the expression of beta-1,4-GalT-I in Schwann cells of peripheral nerve might promote both growth of developmental neuron and regeneration of injured nerve.
