The brain's remarkable ability to recognize faces from the past while forgetting yesterday's breakfast involves complex processes that researchers are continually investigating.
Recent findings suggest that sulfate groups attached to glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), complex sugar molecules, play a role in brain "plasticity" in mice.
Understanding GAG function could provide insights into memory and learning in humans and offer potential ways to restore neural connections after injuries.
More about the research
Presented at the ACS fall meeting, the research delves into the chemistry of GAGs in the brain.
Linda Hsieh-Wilson, Ph.D., the principal investigator, notes that studying GAGs could enhance memory-related neural connections.
GAGs, composed of sugar molecules like sulfate groups, can regulate proteins and change structurally during development and disease.
Chondroitin sulfate, a common brain GAG, forms "perineuronal nets" around neurons, stabilizing synaptic connections.
Sulfation motifs, specific sulfate group patterns, can alter GAG function.
Deleting the Chst11 gene, responsible for sulfation patterns in chondroitin sulfate in mice, resulted in defects in perineuronal nets.
Surprisingly, more nets formed, affecting synaptic connections and impairing social memory.
These nets appear dynamic, influencing synaptic connections from childhood to adulthood.
Why it's important
Identifying protein receptors binding sulfation motifs may lead to tools or treatments promoting axon regeneration and repairing damage from neurodegenerative diseases or strokes.
