Large chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans of developing chick CNS are expressed in cerebral hemisphere neuronal cultures.

Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPG) of the extracellular matrix may play regulatory roles in central nervous system (CNS) development. We have examined the expression of two large CSPGs of the embryonic chick brain, which can be differentiated using the monoclonal antibodies HNK-1 and S103L, in cultures of embryonic day 6 chick cerebral hemisphere neurons. Western blot analysis following immunoprecipitation and endoglycosidase treatment revealed that these cultures produce S103L- and HNK-1-reactive proteoglycans which are biochemically indistinguishable from the CSPGs (previously) identified in homogenized chick embryo brain extracts. The HNK-1-reactive CSPG accumulated in the medium throughout the course of cultures. In contrast, the S103L-reactive CSPG was found in a neuron-associated form during the period of aggregate establishment in culture, as well as in a soluble form secreted into the medium. Immunocytochemical staining of cultures with the S103L antibody localized reactivity to most neurons during the period of aggregate formation, while neuronal processes and the few flat cells present (presumably neuroblasts and early glia) were negative. Cell selection experiments confirmed that neurofilament-positive cells were the source of the S103L-reactive CSPG. The use of differential fixation techniques suggested that the cell-associated S103L reactivity may be intracellular. Because of this pattern of expression and localization, we propose that the developmentally regulated S103L-reactive CSPG may play a role in neuronal migration arrest and organization of neurons into functional aggregates.