European Journal of Anatomy

Official Journal of The Spanish Society of Anatomy
Cover Volume 4 - Number 3
Eur J Anat, 4 (3): 161-167 (2000)

Enzymatic digestion of neural tube fluid proteoglycans leads to brain growth disruption

Alonso M.I., Moro J.A., Martin P., Barbosa E., Gato A.

Departamento de Anatomia Humana, Facultad de Medicina, C/ Ramon y Cajal, 7. 47005 Valladolid, Spain

ABSTRACT The expansive force generated by the positive pressure of the neural tube fluid confined inside brain vesicles has been shown to be a key factor during the earliest stages of brain morphogenesis and development of chick and rat embryos. In previous studies, we demonstrated the existence in these species of an intracavity extracellular matrix rich in proteoglycans that could be involved in the regulation of the expansive process. Our results show that the enzymatic digestion of the intracavity proteoglycans by testicular hyaluronidase selectively disrupts the expansive process of brain vesicles, significantly reduces the rate of mitosis in the brain neuroepithelium, and increases the number of the apoptotic cells, leading to a decrease in neuroepithelial volume. These results support the hypothesis that intracerebral proteoglycans play a relevant role in the regulation of the expansive process of the brain primordium in rat embryos that they could be involved in regulating the survival and replication of neuroblasts.

Keywords: hyaluronidase, proteoglycan, animal experiment, animal tissue, article, brain growth, cell division, cell survival, embryo, extracellular matrix, immunocytochemistry, mitosis, neural tube, neuroblast, neuroepithelium, nonhuman

European Journal of anatomy
ISSN 2340-311X (Online)