Journal
MATRIX BIOLOGY
Volume 31, Issue 3, Pages 170-177Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.matbio.2012.01.004
Keywords
Synaptogenesis; Astrocytes; Neurons; Injury-dependent synaptic plasticity
Categories
Funding
- NINDS NIH HHS [T32 NS051156] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Thrombospondins (TSPs) are a family of large, oligomeric multidomain glycoproteins that participate in a variety of biological functions as part of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Through their associations with a number of binding partners, TSPs mediate complex cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions in such diverse processes as angiogenesis, inflammation, osteogenesis, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. It was recently shown in the developing central nervous system (CNS) that TSPs promote the formation of new synapses, which are the unique cell-cell adhesions between neurons in the brain. This increase in synaptogenesis is mediated by the interaction between astrocyte-secreted TSPs and their neuronal receptor, calcium channel subunit alpha 2 delta-1. The cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie induction of synaptogenesis via this interaction are yet to be fully elucidated. This review will focus on what is known about TSP and synapse formation during development, possible roles for TSP following brain injury, and what the previously established actions of TSP in other biological tissues may tell us about the mechanisms underlying TSP's functions in CNS synaptogenesis. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available