Infographic: Structure of the Perineuronal Net

See the web of proteins that make up these neuronal wrappings.

Written byDaniela Carulli

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© 2018, LISA A. CLARK

© 2018, LISA A. CLARKThe PNN is composed of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs), which are made of a core protein (blue) flanked by a number of sugar chains (dark purple). CSPGs bind to hyaluronic acid (pink balls), which is secreted by membrane-bound enzymes. Link proteins (orange) stabilize the interaction between hyaluronic acid and CSPGs. Sema3A and Otx2 (pink pyramid and red ball, respectively) bind to the sugar chains of the CSPGs. Tenascin-R (green) acts as a cross-linking protein among several CSPGs, contributing to the macromolecular assembly of the PNN.

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