Overexpression of beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase I in rat Schwann cells promotes the growth of co-cultured dorsal root ganglia.

The cell surface beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase I (beta-1,4-GalT-I) functions as one of the receptors of laminin during the neurite outgrowth on basal lamina by binding to N-linked oligosaccharides in the laminin E8 domain. In this study, we demonstrated that the purified rat Schwann cells transfected with the expression plasmid of beta-1,4-GalT-I cDNA transiently promoted outgrowth and elongation of the neurites from co-cultured rat dorsal root ganglia, while those transfected with the antisense expression plasmid of beta-1,4-GalT-I had the opposite effects. These results suggested that the expression of beta-1,4-GalT-I in Schwann cells of peripheral nerve might promote both growth of developmental neuron and regeneration of injured nerve.