Cell migration into the damaged brain mediated by increased cell adhesion

TL;DR

This paper explores how cell adhesion influences migration in the brain, especially after injury, and suggests a new treatment for brain damage.

Contribution

The study reveals a new function of polysialic acid in inhibiting cell migration and proposes a neuraminidase inhibitor as a potential therapy.

Findings

Polysialic acid (PSA) inhibits cell migration in the brain.

A neuraminidase inhibitor shows therapeutic potential for brain injury.

Cell migration is regulated by molecular mechanisms in both healthy and injured brains.

Abstract

A new paper published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, Matsumoto et al (2024), elegantly shows that polysialic acid (PSA), has a new function—inhibition of migration. Molecular control over cell migration during brain development is essential for proper brain growth and positioning of neurons. Newborn cells frequently migrate long distances and in circuitous routes to their final destinations. Although many molecular regulators have been found that direct cell migration, the fundamental questions of how and why the cells exhibit such long-distance journeys is not well understood. This is especially true in the context of the rostral migratory stream (RMS) in the postnatal brain.

F. Szele and J. Becker discuss a new mechanism of neuronal migration in healthy and injured brain and a promising therapeutic potential of a neuraminidase inhibitor for the treatment of brain injury as reported by K. Sawamoto and colleagues, in this issue of EMBO Mol Med.

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