The carbohydrate N-acetylglucosamine is involved in the guidance of neurites from chick ciliary ganglion neurons through the extracellular matrix of rat skeletal muscle fiber.

In the present work we study the functional role of muscle cell extracellular matrix components in axonal guidance during synaptic regeneration. We focused on components recognized by the N-acetylglucosamine-specific lectin called wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) that has been shown to bind to the muscle cell extracellular matrix. We have used a cryoculture bioassay which is based on the ability of chick ciliary ganglion neurons to grow on rat skeletal muscle cryostat sections [Covault, J., et al., J. Neurosci., 105 (1987) 2479-2488.]. In control cultures neurites extended upon the muscle sections closely associated to the muscle cell surface. Masking WGA lectin receptors on the muscle cell surface perturbed the behavior of neurites. On WGA-treated sections, most of the neurites extended indiscriminately on intercellular and intracellular regions. These results indicate that N-acetylglucosamine-bearing molecules on muscle cell surfaces may play functional roles in the guidance of neurites through the extracellular matrix.