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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 May 1.
Published in final edited form as: J Neurosci Res. 2016 Nov;94(11):1293–1303. doi: 10.1002/jnr.23805

Fig. 5. Representation of the extracellular matrix surrounding a neural cell.

Fig. 5

The quantitative and qualitative composition is variable (eg: in the perineural net) but neurons tend to have less negatively charged extracellular matrix than glial cells (especially reactive glial cells following injury) and this should be considered when designating a vehicle to deliver enzyme, chaperones or substrate-reducing drugs to cells. Major proteoglycans are Chondroitin sulfates, heparan sulfates (which are linked to proteins through Gal-Gal-Xylosyl-Serine and hyaluronic acid. Sialic-acid-containing glycoproteins can be GlcNAc-Asn-linked (N), GalNAc-Ser (O-linked) or phosphatidylinositol (PI)-linked. Negatively-charged glycosphingolipids include gangliosides and sulfatides. Sulfatide is 3-O-galactosylceramide and therefore metabolically related to the galactosylsphingosine(psychosine) storage material in KD The ECM can be digested with bacterial chondroitinase ABC, heparanase and sialidase (neuraminidase).