Chondroitin sulfate metabolism in the brain

Abstract

Over the last twenty years chondroitin sulfate (CS) has become a focus of interest of neuroscience due to its indubitable role in shaping axonal growth, synaptic plasticity and glial scar forming. Various patterns of sulfation give rise to various CS molecules with different properties that are capable of interactions with a plethora of molecules, including growth factors, receptors and guidance molecules. The involvement of CS chains has been implicated in visual critical period regulation, memory formation, spinal cord regeneration. As part of proteoglycan molecules, they are widely expressed in the central nervous system, however, little is known about the enzymatic machinery responsible for CS synthesis and degradation. In this review we attempt to extract and collect the available information concerning the expression and function of enzymes of CS metabolism in the brain.