Barbara A Sorg, Sabina Berretta, Jordan M Blacktop, James W Fawcett, Hiroshi Kitagawa, Jessica C F Kwok, Marta Miquel
Perineuronal nets (PNNs) are unique extracellular matrix structures that wrap around certain neurons in the CNS during development and control plasticity in the adult CNS. They appear to contribute to a wide range of diseases/disorders of the brain, are involved in recovery from spinal cord injury, and are altered during aging, learning and memory, and after exposure to drugs of abuse. Here the focus is on how a major component of PNNs, chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, control plasticity, and on the role of PNNs in memory in normal aging, in a tauopathy model of Alzheimer's disease, and in drug addiction...
November 9, 2016: Journal of Neuroscience: the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience