Neurite outgrowth on a step gradient of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CS-PG)

Unilateral containment of retinal axons by tectal glia: a possible role for sulfated proteoglycans

(1) A distinct group of radial glia resides along the roofplate of the mesencephalon. Results of experiments, in which the neonatal tectum is manipulated surgically, point to the involvement of these glia in compartmentalizing retinotectal axons to one side of the midbrain. (2) Immunohistochemical studies document that the GAGs CS and KS are expressed along these midline glia during development: their expression occurs after the intertectal axons grow across the midline, but is coincident with the time of ingrowth of retinotectal axons, which fail to cross the midline. Together with results of in vitro experiments from other laboratories, these observations suggest that CS and KS are involved in the barrier function of the midline cells. (3) Preliminary data on biochemical characterization of PGs in developing tectum indicate that similar PG core proteins are found in the midline region as well as in the lateral tectum, whereas metabolic labeling shows a significantly higher uptake of radioactive sulfates along the midline. Thus differential glycosylation of proteins along the midline is likely, along with the possibility that it is the sugar chains which contribute to the barrier function of the raphe glia. Taken in the context of what we currently know about the biochemical heterogeneity of PGs, their developmental expression, and their functions in relation to the growth of axons from a variety of different neuronal cell types, it is clear that the analyses of interactions between PGs and growing axons must occur at several different levels, not the least of which involves a detailed understanding of the milieu in vivo within which these interactions take place.

Purification, characterization and developmental expression of a brain-specific chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, 6B4 proteoglycan/phosphacan

A large brain-specific chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, identified with monoclonal antibody 6B4 (6B4 proteoglycan/phosphacan), was isolated from rat brain. Soluble proteoglycans in the phosphate-buffered saline extract from 20-day-old rat whole brain were fractionated by anion exchange chromatography and CsCl density gradient centrifugation. 6B4 proteoglycan was further purified by gel filtration and additional ion exchange chromatography. The molecular mass of 6B4 proteoglycan shifted from 800 to 300 x 10(3) mol. wt after chondroitinase ABC digestion. The core protein was substituted with chondroitin sulfate chains with an average molecular weight of 21,000, keratan sulfate and HNK-1 carbohydrates. Glycosidase digestion of 6B4 proteoglycan with O-glycanase, N-glycanase, endo-beta-galactosidase, or keratanase did not remove the HNK-1 epitopes. The expression of 6B4 proteoglycan was developmentally regulated in the rat cerebral cortex; appearing first at embryonic day 14, peaking at postnatal day 0, and persisting throughout adulthood at a lower level. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated that 6B4 proteoglycan was distributed along the radial glial fibers and on the migrating neurons in the embryonal rar cerebrum. The radial glial fibers were stained intensely all along their length, but the neurons in the cortical plate were not stained in contrast to the moderate staining of the migrating neurons in the intermediate zone and the subplate. From postnatal day 5 to postnatal day 20, 6B4 proteoglycan was present throughout the cortex. After postnatal day 30, staining of the neuropil was weakened, and the expression of 6B4 proteoglycan was restricted around subsets of neurons. The positive neurons were mostly non-pyramidal cells (> 95%) and were relatively concentrated in layers IV and VI of the primary somatosensory cortex. Immunohistochemical analysis of the dissociated cortical neurons indicated that 6B4 proteoglycan was distributed on the cell bodies and neurites. 6B4 proteoglycan strikingly promoted neurite extension of cortical neurons from embryonic day-16 rat embryos when coated on coverslips as a substrate. 6B4 proteoglycan is a brain-specific chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan which carries keratan sulfate and HNK-1 carbohydrates. The spatiotemporal expression profile and effects on the dissociated cerebral neurons suggest that 6B4 proteoglycan plays important roles in the migration and differentiation of neurons in the immature cortex, and also in the maintenance of subsets of neurons in the mature cortex.

Restricted appearance of tenascin and chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans after transection and sprouting of adult rat postcommissural fornix

Transected fibres of the adult rat postcommissural fornix sprout over short distances but fail to traverse the lesion site and terminate in close vicinity to the wound. As a step in defining the molecular environment responsible for regeneration failure at the lesion site, we have used immunocytochemistry to analyse the spatio-temporal expression pattern of two putative growth-inhibitory extracellular matrix components, tenascin and chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans and their topographical relationship to the sprouting axons. Both tenascin and chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan labelling appeared after fornix transection and were confined to the immediate vicinity of the lesion site. While tenascin-labelling was associated with astrocytes and microglia/macrophages, which accumulate preferentially at the tract borders, chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan labelling appeared as a homogeneous meshwork around the wound. Tenascin-like immunoreactivity disappeared between 17 days and 4 weeks, but chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan staining persisted at least up to 14 months after transection. Regrowing fornix fibres invaded and elongated within the chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan-immunopositive region up to the lesion site, where they terminated. This zone of axonal growth inhibition was neither characterized by an increase of chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan immunoreactivity nor by the presence of tenascin-immunopositive structures. The spatio-temporal distribution patterns of tenascin and chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan and the permeability of the chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan-immunopositive region for sprouting axons do not support the hypothesis that chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan alone and/or tenascin inhibit the advance of sprouting fornix fibres.

Axonal guidance in the chicken retina

During retina development, ganglion cells extend their axons exclusively into the innermost tissue layer, but not into outer retina layers. In order to elucidate guiding mechanisms for axons, tissue strips of embryonic chicken retinae were explanted onto retinal cryosections (cryoculture). Ganglion cell axons originating from the explant grew preferentially on the innermost retina layer of cryosections, whereas outer tissue layers were avoided, very much as in vivo. Stereotropism, interaction with laminin of the basal lamina and axonal fasciculation did not significantly affect oriented axonal outgrowth, so that stereotropism as a guidance mechanism could be excluded. Ganglion cell axons were not directed by physical barriers, e.g. microstructured silicon oxide chips. Similarly, UV induced protein inactivation revealed that laminin present in the inner retina did not provide a guidance cue. Even in the absence of ganglion cell axons in retinal cryosections due to prior optic nerve transection in ovo, the growth preference for the innermost retina layer was maintained in cryocultures. However, oriented elongation of axons along the innermost retina layer was lost when radial glial endfeet were selectively eliminated in retinal cryosections. In addition, glial endfeet provided an excellent growth substratum when pure preparations of endfeet were employed in explant cultures. The preference for glial endfeet positioned at the inner retina surface was accompanied by the avoidance of outer retina layers, most likely because of inhibitory components in this region. This assumption is corroborated by the finding that addition of exogenous growth-promoting laminin to cryosections did not abolish the inhibition. Laminin on glass surfaces provided an excellent substratum. Axonal outgrowth was also seriously hampered on specifically purified cells of the outer retina. Most notable, however, in cryocultures aberrant innervation of outer retina layers could be induced by prior heat or protease treatment of cryosections, which pointed to proteins as potential inhibitory components. In summary the data substantiate the hypothesis that within the retina, ganglion cell axons are guided by a dual mechanism based on a permissive and an inhibitory zone. Radial glia is likely to be instructive in this process.

Boundaries and inhibitory molecules in developing neural tissues

Numerous studies of the past decade have illuminated the importance of intercellular adhesion events for neural pattern formation. It has been documented that members of the Ig and cadherin gene superfamilies, that glycoproteins and, probably to some extent, proteoglycans of the extracellular matrix play a role in this context. Recent observations suggest that, in addition to adhesive interactions, repulsive and/or inhibitory phenoma are also of importance in regulating neural pattern formation. Several molecules are under study which are considered possible mediators of inhibitory interactions in the nervous system. The hypothesis has been advanced that some of these might be partially responsible for restrictive, boundary-like properties ascribed to glial cells in developing and regenerating tissues. The current review summarizes these studies and focusses on molecular aspects of boundary and compartmentation phenomena.

Chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans in the rat brain: candidates for axon barriers of sensory neurons and the possible modification by laminin of their actions

The addition of chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans (CSPGs), purified from the rat brain, to the culture medium of PC12D cells inhibited their proliferation and neurite outgrowth. Therefore, we investigated the effects of several extracellular components on the inhibitory actions of CSPGs on PC12D cells, as well as their immunocytochemical distribution in the rat embryo to determine whether the findings in vitro could be reproduced in vivo. Coating of the substratum with polylysine was necessary for the appearance of the inhibitory effects of brain CSPGs on PC12D cells. The additional pretreatment of polylysine-coated dishes with laminin or fibronectin promoted the outgrowth of neurites from PC12D cells. Laminin and fibronectin, but not collagen (types I and IV) and CELL-TAK (cell adhesion molecules), prevented the inhibitory effects of brain CSPGs in a concentration-dependent manner. Doses producing 50% reduction by laminin (or fibronectin) of the CSPG effects were 1.5 (or 25) micrograms/ml for neurite outgrowth and 2.2 (or 28) micrograms/ml for proliferation. The ratio of dish-attached CSPGs to laminin necessary for 50% reduction was about approximately 50:1 (wt/wt). Laminin from any source had the same effect. Brain CSPGs also obviously impeded the growth of fibres from dorsal root ganglion explants and primary cultured dorsal root ganglion neurons. Neurocan (a major CSPG in the brain)-like immunoreactivity was detected in the boundary caps and roof plate in the rat embryo at 13.5 days of gestation, when DRG neurons were extending their axons to the neural tube. The distributions of laminin and tenascin appeared, respectively, to be slightly and considerably different from that of neurocan.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Expression of chondroitin sulfate and keratan sulfate proteoglycans in the path of growing retinal axons in the developing chick

Previous investigations have identified proteoglycans in the central nervous system during development and have implicated some proteoglycans as axon guidance molecules that act by inhibiting axon extension. The present study investigated the pattern of immunoreactivity for several glycosaminoglycans common to certain proteoglycans relative to growing retinal axons in the developing chick visual system and in retinal explant cultures. Immunostaining for chondroitin-6-sulfate, chondroitin-4-sulfate, and keratan sulfate was observed to colocalize with retinal axons throughout the retinofugal pathway during the entire period of retinal axon growth. The proteoglycan form of collagen IX, however, was only observed in the retina, primarily peripheral to the areas with actively growing axons. The pattern of immunostaining for chondroitin sulfate in tissue sections suggested that the retinal axons might be a source for some of the chondroitin sulfate immunostaining in the developing visual pathway. This was confirmed in that chondroitin sulfate immunostaining was also observed on neurites emanating from cultured retinal explants. These findings indicate that retinal axons grow in the presence of chondroitin sulfate and keratan sulfate proteoglycans and that these proteoglycans in the developing chick visual pathway have functions other than to inhibit axon growth.

Interactions of the chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan phosphacan, the extracellular domain of a receptor-type protein tyrosine phosphatase, with neurons, glia, and neural cell adhesion molecules

Phosphacan is a chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan produced by glial cells in the central nervous system, and represents the extracellular domain of a receptor-type protein tyrosine phosphatase (RPTP zeta/beta). We previously demonstrated that soluble phosphacan inhibited the aggregation of microbeads coated with N-CAM or Ng-CAM, and have now found that soluble 125I-phosphacan bound reversibly to these neural cell adhesion molecules, but not to a number of other cell surface and extracellular matrix proteins. The binding was saturable, and Scatchard plots indicated a single high affinity binding site with a Kd of approximately 0.1 nM. Binding was reduced by approximately 15% after chondroitinase treatment, and free chondroitin sulfate was only moderately inhibitory, indicating that the phosphacan core glycoprotein accounts for most of the binding activity. Immunocytochemical studies of embryonic rat spinal phosphacan, Ng-CAM, and N-CAM have overlapping distributions. When dissociated neurons were incubated on dishes coated with combinations of phosphacan and Ng-CAM, neuronal adhesion and neurite growth were inhibited. 125I-phosphacan bound to neurons, and the binding was inhibited by antibodies against Ng-CAM and N-CAM, suggesting that these CAMs are major receptors for phosphacan on neurons. C6 glioma cells, which express phosphacan, adhered to dishes coated with Ng-CAM, and low concentrations of phosphacan inhibited adhesion to Ng-CAM but not to laminin and fibronectin. Our studies suggest that by binding to neural cell adhesion molecules, and possibly also by competing for ligands of the transmembrane phosphatase, phosphacan may play a major role in modulating neuronal and glial adhesion, neurite growth, and signal transduction during the development of the central nervous system.

Inhibitory factors controlling growth cone motility and guidance

Recent advances in the identification of factors that inhibit axon extension lead us to suggest that there exist at least two functionally distinct categories of inhibitory factors: those that inhibit the motile apparatus of the growth cone, and those that destabilize interactions of the growth cone with the substratum. These two types of inhibitory factors could play an important role in growth cone guidance.

Development of sensory innervation in chick skin: comparison of nerve fibre and chondroitin sulphate distributions in vivo and in vitro

In bird skin, nerve fibres develop in the dermis but do not enter the epidermis. In co-cultures of 7-day-old chick embryo dorsal root ganglia and epidermis, the neurites also avoid the epidermis. Previous studies have shown that chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans may be involved. Chondroitin sulphate has therefore been visualized by immunocytochemistry, using the monoclonal antibody CS-56, both in vivo and in vitro using light and electron microscopy. Its distribution was compared to those of 2 other chondroitin sulphate epitopes and to that of the growing nerve fibres. In cultures of epidermis from 7-day-old embryonic chicks, immunoreactivity is found uniformly around the epidermal cells while at 7.5 days the distribution in dermis is heterogeneous, and particularly marked in feather buds. In vivo, chondroitin sulphate immunoreactivity is detected in the epidermis, on the basal lamina, on the surfaces of fibroblasts and along collagen fibrils. This localization is complementary to the distribution of cutaneous nerves. Chondroitin sulphate in the basal lamina could prevent innervation of the epidermis and the dermal heterogeneities could partly explain the nerve fibres surrounding the base of the feathers. Chondroitin sulphate could therefore be important for neural guidance in developing chick skin.

Exogenous glycosaminoglycans induce complete inversion of retinal ganglion cell bodies and their axons within the retinal neuroepithelium

Prior to forming an axon, retinal ganglion cells retain a primitive radial configuration while maintaining ventricular and vitreal endfeet attachments. During their subsequent differentiation, ganglion cells polarize their cell body and axon only along the vitreal surface. When the ventricular surfaces of intact retinas in organ culture were exposed to free chondroitin sulfate (CS) in solution, both the cell body and nerve fiber layers were repolarized to the opposite side of the neuroepithelium. However, the basal lamina remained in its usual position. Thus, the ability to initiate an axon is not restricted to the vitreal endfoot region of differentiating neurons, and in addition, the radial position at which the axon emerges can be mediated by the location and concentration of the extracellular CS milieu.

Promoting and directing axon outgrowth

Establishment of appropriate neuronal connections during development and regeneration requires the extension of processes that must then grow in the correct direction, find and recognize their targets, and make synapses with them. During development, embryonic neurons gradually establish central and peripheral connections in an evolving cellular environment in which neurotrophic factors are provided by supporting and target cells that promote neuronal survival, differentiation, and process outgrowth. Some cells also release neurotropic factors that direct the outgrowth of neuronal processes toward their targets. Following development the neurotrophic requirements of some adult neurons change so that, although they respond to neurotrophic factors, they no longer require exogenous neurotrophins to survive or to extend processes. Within the central nervous system (CNS), the ability of neurons to extend processes is eventually lost because of a change in their cellular environment from outgrowth permissive to inhibitory. Thus, neuronal connections that are lost in the adult CNS are rarely reestablished. In contrast, the environment of the adult peripheral nervous system fosters process outgrowth and synapse formation. This article discusses the neurotrophic requirements of embryonic and adult neurons, as well as the importance of neurotropic factors in directing the outgrowth of regenerating adult axons.

Modulation of neurite promoting proteoglycans by neuronal differentiation

A human cell line committed to neuronal lineage was used to examine the influence of differentiation on proteoglycan synthesis and function. Where the LA-N-2 cells were stimulated to differentiate towards a phenotype of cholinergic neurons, proteoglycans of the heparan sulphate class increased relative to chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans and displayed more homogeneously shorter glycosaminoglycan chains with increasing degrees of sulphation. The changes were accompanied by increasing potency of the heparan sulphate proteoglycans in neurite growth-promoting activity when immobilized on a laminin substrate. These studies begin to address the role of activity-independent growth and differentiation on the synthesis and release by neurons of neurite growth-promoting proteoglycans. The observations have implications for understanding the role of proteoglycan overexpression and the production of dystrophic neurites in Alzheimer disease.

Differential effects of glycosaminoglycans on neurite outgrowth from hippocampal and thalamic neurones

Chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans are expressed in a temporally restricted pattern from embryonic day 17 to postnatal day 0 in both the thalamus and the cortical subplate, to which thalamic neurones transiently project. To study whether chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans could be specifically involved in the modulation of thalamic axon outgrowth, we compared neurite outgrowth from cultured rat embryonic hippocampal and thalamic neurones, in the presence of chondroitin sulphate type C (isolated from shark cartilage) and chondroitin sulphate type B (dermatan sulphate; isolated from bovine mucosa). When added to the culture medium, both types of glycosaminoglycan lowered the adhesion to laminin and polylysine of both hippocampal and thalamic neurones. However, only chondroitin sulphate specifically modified the pattern of thalamic but not hippocampal neurone outgrowth, promoting axon growth. The morphological changes induced by chondroitin sulphate were concentration dependent and correlated with the selective binding of chondroitin sulphate to the neuronal plasma membrane and its subsequent internalisation. Chondroitin sulphate loosely bound to the surface of hippocampal neurones, but was not internalised. These results indicate that proteoglycans, and in particular the glycosaminoglycan component of these molecules, can differentially modulate neurite outgrowth, depending on their biochemical composition and on the type of neurones they bind to; this would be a possible mechanism of controlling axon guidance in vivo.

The neuronal chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan neurocan binds to the neural cell adhesion molecules Ng-CAM/L1/NILE and N-CAM, and inhibits neuronal adhesion and neurite outgrowth

We have previously shown that aggregation of microbeads coated with N-CAM and Ng-CAM is inhibited by incubation with soluble neurocan, a chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan of brain, suggesting that neurocan binds to these cell adhesion molecules (Grumet, M., A. Flaccus, and R. U. Margolis. 1993. J. Cell Biol. 120:815). To investigate these interactions more directly, we have tested binding of soluble 125I-neurocan to microwells coated with different glycoproteins. Neurocan bound at high levels to Ng-CAM and N-CAM, but little or no binding was detected to myelin-associated glycoprotein, EGF receptor, fibronectin, laminin, and collagen IV. The binding to Ng-CAM and N-CAM was saturable and in each case Scatchard plots indicated a high affinity binding site with a dissociation constant of approximately 1 nM. Binding was significantly reduced after treatment of neurocan with chondroitinase, and free chondroitin sulfate inhibited binding of neurocan to Ng-CAM and N-CAM. These results indicate a role for chondroitin sulfate in this process, although the core glycoprotein also has binding activity. The COOH-terminal half of neurocan was shown to have binding properties essentially identical to those of the full-length proteoglycan. To study the potential biological functions of neurocan, its effects on neuronal adhesion and neurite growth were analyzed. When neurons were incubated on dishes coated with different combinations of neurocan and Ng-CAM, neuronal adhesion and neurite extension were inhibited. Experiments using anti-Ng-CAM antibodies as a substrate also indicate that neurocan has a direct inhibitory effect on neuronal adhesion and neurite growth. Immunoperoxidase staining of tissue sections showed that neurocan, Ng-CAM, and N-CAM are all present at highest concentration in the molecular layer and fiber tracts of developing cerebellum. The overlapping localization in vivo, the molecular binding studies, and the striking effects on neuronal adhesion and neurite growth support the view that neurocan may modulate neuronal adhesion and neurite growth during development by binding to neural cell adhesion molecules.

Alzheimer A beta amyloid forms an inhibitory neuronal substrate

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is identified by the accumulation of amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary degeneration, and the accompanying neuronal loss. AD amyloid assembles into compact fibrous deposits from the amyloid beta (A beta) protein, which is a proteolytic fragment of the membrane-associated amyloid precursor protein. To examine the effects of amyloid on neuron growth, a hybrid mouse motoneuron cell line (NSC34) exhibiting spontaneous process formation was exposed to artificial "plaques" created from aggregated synthetic A beta peptides. These correspond to full-length A beta residues 1-40 (A beta 1-40), an internal beta-sheet region comprising residues 11-28 (A beta 11-28), and a proposed toxic fragment comprising residues 25-35 (A beta 25-35). Fibers were immobilized onto culture dishes, and addition of cells to these in vitro plaques revealed that A beta was not a permissive substrate for cell adhesion. Neurites in close contact with these deposits displayed abnormal swelling and a tendency to avoid contact with the A beta fibers. In contrast, A beta did not affect the adhesion or growth of rat astrocytes, implicating a specific A beta-neuron relationship. The inhibitory effects were also unique to A beta as no response was observed to deposits of pancreatic islet amyloid polypeptide fibers. Considering the importance of cell adhesion in neurite elongation and axonal guidance, the antiadhesive properties of A beta amyloid plaques found in vivo may contribute to the neuronal loss responsible for the clinical manifestations of AD.

Nervous tissue proteoglycans

The structure, biosynthesis, localization, and possible functional roles of nervous tissue glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans were last reviewed several years ago. Since that time, there has been an exponential increase in publications on the neurobiology of proteoglycans. This review will therefore focus on reports which have appeared in the period after 1988, and especially on those concerning the properties of individual characterized nervous tissue proteoglycans. Related areas such as the regulation of glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis and the roles of cell surface proteoglycans in adhesion and growth control are covered in other contributions to this special topic issue.

Nervous tissue proteoglycans

The structure, biosynthesis, localization, and possible functional roles of nervous tissue glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans were last reviewed several years ago. Since that time, there has been an exponential increase in publications on the neurobiology of proteoglycans. This review will therefore focus on reports which have appeared in the period after 1988, and especially on those concerning the properties of individual characterized nervous tissue proteoglycans. Related areas such as the regulation of glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis and the roles of cell surface proteoglycans in adhesion and growth control are covered in other contributions to this special topic issue.

Proteoglycans and the modulation of cell adhesion by steric exclusion

The hypothesis that cell aggregation may be driven by linear polymers in the matrix, particularly glycosaminoglycans, is revisited in light of more recent evidence. A model is proposed that extends the concept of steric exclusion to include a role in determining the directionality of cell migration and neurite extension. Recent literature is reviewed to support the conclusion that in living tissues the theoretical conditions for driving aggregation and migration by steric exclusion are met. The ability of a linear polymer to exclude cells is a function of its viscosity, which is optimum with glycosaminoglycans similar to chondroitin sulfate. It is ineffective with low viscosity glycosaminoglycans such as most heparin or heparan sulfate. Hyaluronic acid, a massive polymer, excludes cells poorly when present as an open matrix gel but forms an effective exclusion barrier when attached to the cell surface. According to a model for steric exclusion in organogenesis, when cells have a glycocalyx of linear polymer, they should disperse and migrate down a viscosity gradient of excluding matrix polymer; when they shed or internalize their surface coat in the continued presence of matrix, they should be excluded into a smaller volume and thus stimulated to aggregate.

Identification of molecules in a muscle extracellular matrix extract that promotes process outgrowth from cultured adult frog motoneurons

The molecular composition of the substrate on which neurons are cultured is critical for their attachment, survival, and extension of processes. The aim of the present experiments was to characterize the molecules in an extracellular matrix (ECM) extract that promotes the outgrowth of processes from cultured adult frog motoneurons. An extract was made of skeletal muscle ECM and tested as a substrate for cultured motoneurons. The average total process length of motoneurons cultured on this crude ECM extract is greater than when the neurons are cultured on concanavalin A, poly-L-lysine or mouse tumor (EHS) laminin. Gel filtration of the ECM extract yielded fractions with an increased specific activity for promoting process outgrowth. The most active fractions exhibit a single major polypeptide band of ca. 1 mD and two minor bands of ca. greater than 1 mD and 205 kD upon sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis. Under reducing conditions, three major bands were seen of 340, 205, and 200 kD. Electron microscopy of rotary-shadowed ECM fractions showed macromolecules with a cross-shaped structure similar to vertebrate and invertebrate laminin, a rod-like molecule resembling vertebrate and invertebrate collagen type IV, and a third molecule similar in appearance to vertebrate fibrillin. These results represent the first step in analyzing the role of substrate molecules in promoting neuromuscular reinnervation.