Topic: brain extracellular matrix

The brain extracellular matrix (ECM) is a lattice-like structure that occupies the intercellular space in the central nervous system (CNS). The ECM constituents are extremely long-lived and are widely believed to stabilize neurons and synapses in the brain. They are thought to be renewed only rarely, dependent on neuronal activity, by the activation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) that cleave the existing ECM components, followed by de novo ECM protein synthesis. However, various studies have demonstrated that synapses change their structural organization on minutes to hours time scale, ca

The brain extracellular matrix (ECM) provides a physical framework and biochemical milieu for early (embryonic) morphogenetic and later (fetal and neonatal) histogenetic events. The specific ECM constituents and their dynamic spatial and temporal distribution at transcriptomics and protein levels were researched using RNAseq analysis and immunohistochemistry in 200 postmortem fetal and postnatal human brains. The ECM is especially prominent in the transiently voluminous histogenetic zones such as the neocortical preplate, subplate, and marginal zone. Still, it is also present in the smaller de