Chondroitin Sulfate Wobble Motifs Modulate Maintenance and Differentiation of Neural Stem Cells and Their Progeny

Chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate (CS/DS) proteoglycans, major components of the central nervous system, have the potential to interact with a wide range of growth factors and neurotrophic factors that influence neuronal migration, axon guidance pathways, and neurite outgrowth. Recent studies have also revealed the role of CS/DS chains in the orchestration of the neural stem/progenitor cell micromilieu. Individual functional proteins recognize a set of multiple overlapping oligosaccharide sequences decorated to give different sulfation patterns, which are termed here wobble CS/DS oligosaccharide motifs, and induce signaling pathways essential for the proliferation, self-renewal, and cell lineage commitment of neural stem/progenitor cells.