Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans inhibit oligodendrocyte myelination through PTPσ.

CNS damage often results in demyelination of spared axons due to oligodendroglial cell death and dysfunction near the injury site. Although new oligodendroglia are generated following CNS injury and disease, the process of remyelination is typically incomplete resulting in long-term functional deficits. Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) are upregulated in CNS grey and white matter following injury and disease and are a major component of the inhibitory scar that suppresses axon regeneration.

Proliferation and pluripotency of human embryonic stem cells maintained on type I collagen.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) require a balance of growth factors and signaling molecules to proliferate and retain pluripotency. Conditioned medium (CM) from a human embryonic germ-cell-derived cell culture, SDEC, was observed to support the growth of hESC on type I collagen (COL I) and on Matrigel (MAT) biomatricies. After 1 month, the population doubling of hESC grown in SDEC CM on COL I was equivalent to that of hESC grown in mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) CM on MAT.