Abstract
It has been suggested that carbohydrate, widely expressed on cell surface, could participate in regulating several cellular functions, inflammation, differentiation, proliferation and adhesion, but the precise mechanisms of carbohydrates on neural stem cell surface remain unknown. In this study, we have analyzed the carbohydrate expression in the embryonic mouse brain and participation in the cell adhesion in vitro neuronal culture system. We have found that positive staining of the binding proteins for Asn-linked complex type carbohydrates in the embryonic mice brain, especially in the subventricular zone and the lateral ganglionic eminence, and that staining was co localized with nestin, marker for neural stem cells.To determine the relation between the adhesions with the complex type carbohydrates, the dissociated brain cells was incubated for 30 min onto the carbohydrate-binding protein-treated well, and attached cells after vigorous wash were analyzed by immunocytochemistry. Interestingly, among several binding proteins for the carbohydrates, complex type-binding protein able to attract embryonic brain cells at greater extent comparing to the other carbohydrate-binding proteins. Vast majority of these attracted cells by carbohydrate express nestin antigen, and form neurosphere after 5 days in culture. These results suggest that complex type carbohydrates could play significant role in cell adhesion, and could be of assistance to prospective separation of neural stem cells from embryonic brain. [Jpn J Physiol 55 Suppl:S206 (2005)]
