PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Wallace, BG
TI  - Inhibition of agrin-induced acetylcholine-receptor aggregation by heparin, heparan sulfate, and other polyanions
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.10-11-03576.1990
DP  - 1990 Nov 01
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 3576--3582
VI  - 10
IP  - 11
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/10/11/3576.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/10/11/3576.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.1990 Nov 01; 10
AB  - Heparin and heparan sulfate have been shown to block nerve-induced acetylcholine-receptor (AChR) aggregation at developing neuromuscular junctions. We found that heparin, heparan sulfate, and a wide variety of other polyanions also inhibited agrin-induced AChR aggregation. The more highly charged the polyanion, the more potent it was as an inhibitor. Inhibition of agrin-induced AChR aggregation was due, at least in part, to the formation of a complex between the polyanion and agrin that was inactive. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that nerve-induced aggregation of AChRs is mediated by the release of agrin, or a closely related protein, from axon terminals and suggest that a polyanion, such as a sulfated proteoglycan, may be involved in the interaction of agrin with its receptor on the myotube surface.