Review: Dystroglycan in the Nervous System

Abstract

Dystroglycan is part of a large complex of proteins, the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex, which has been implicated in the pathogenesis of muscular dystrophies for a long time. Besides muscular degeneration many patients manifest symptoms of neurological and cognitive dysfunction. Recent findings suggest that dystroglycan is implicated in brain development, synapse formation and plasticity, nerve-glia interactions and maintenance of the blood-brain barrier. Most research so far has focused on the functions of dystroglycan in muscle and neuromuscular junctions, while its role in the brain and interneuronal synapses has been neglected. This review will give an overview of the biochemistry of dystroglycan, its interaction with other proteins as well as its confirmed and hypothetical functions in the nervous system.