2006 Volume 18 Issue 101 Pages 165-183
Chondroitin sulfate (CS) and dermatan sulfate (DS) are widely distributed as sulfated glycosaminoglycan side chains of proteoglycans in extracellular matrices and at cell surfaces. Increasing evidence suggests the importance of CS/DS chains in several biological functions. For example, in the development and regeneration of the central nervous system, they have apparently contradictory roles as neuritogenic molecules and as major inhibitors of axonal pathfinding and regeneration. These functions are closely associated with the characteristic sulfated structures embedded in the CS/DS chains, and are exerted through distinct molecular mechanisms, at least in part, by specific interactions between CS/DS chains and heparin-binding growth factors.
