Is the soluble KDI domain of gamma1 laminin a regeneration factor for the mammalian central nervous system?

Regeneration of adult mammalian CNS is poor as a result of environmental factors that prevent axon growth. The major factors hampering regeneration of central axons include proteins released from the damaged myelin sheets of the injured neuronal pathways and formation of the glial scar. By using an experimental model of human CNS injury, we show that survival and neurite outgrowth of human central neurons are significantly enhanced by the soluble KDI domain of gamma1 laminin.

Subdermal progestin implant (Nestorone) in the treatment of endometriosis: clinical response to various doses.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of three different doses of Nestorone progestin administered by implants for relief of pain, as well as bleeding patterns and symptoms in women with endometriosis.

Design: An open clinical study without a control group.

Patients: Twenty-one women in whom endometriosis was diagnosed and treated at laparoscopy or at laparotomy.

Gamma 1 laminin and its biologically active KDI-domain may guide axons in the floor plate of human embryonic spinal cord.

Immunocytochemistry, in situ hybridization and Matrigel-embedded cultures were used to investigate the distribution of laminins during development of the human embryonic spinal cord (7-11 weeks). Our results indicate that alpha 1, beta 1, beta 3 and gamma 1 laminins localize as punctate deposits in the floor plate region in association with commissural fibers crossing the ventral midline. In addition, the neurite outgrowth domain of gamma 1 laminin accumulates heavily in the floor plate region, in the notochord and in GFAP-immunoreactive glial fibers of the embryonic spinal cord.