A. Lochter et al., THE EXTRACELLULAR-MATRIX MOLECULE JANUSIN REGULATES NEURONAL MORPHOLOGY IN A SUBSTRATE AND CULTURE TIME-DEPENDENT MANNER, European journal of neuroscience, 6(4), 1994, pp. 597-606
Janusin is an extracellular matrix glycoprotein with structural homolo
gy to tenascin. In search of extracellular matrix components which gov
ern the differentiation of neurons in the central nervous system, we h
ave investigated the influence of janusin on the differentiation of hi
ppocampal neurons in vitro. Janusin coated onto nitrocellulose was a g
oad substrate for attachment of cell bodies and neurite outgrowth afte
r 21 h of culture. Most cells exhibited a polarized morphology with on
e long major neurite and one or two short minor neurites. When janusin
was coated onto a polyornithine-conditioned plastic surface, it incre
ased the polarity of neurons in that the length of major neurites was
increased and the length and number of minor neurites were decreased w
hen compared with the control polyornithine-conditioned plastic withou
t janusin. As we have shown before for tenascin, laminin and fibronect
in, polarization was preceded by an increase in the number and length
of all neurites during the first hours after cell plating. This study
therefore adds janusin to the increasing number of extracellular matri
x glycoproteins which promote axonal but not dendritic growth.