Figure 1: T1KO mice recover from SCI more quickly and more completely than WT mice.

(a) Schematic diagram of GAG synthesis. The steps in CS synthesis are as follows: (1) synthesis of the tetrasaccharide linker that is attached to core proteins; (2) attachment of an N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) to the linker; (3) addition of glucuronic acid (GlcA) to GalNAc and subsequent polymerization of the disaccharide backbone (GalNAc-GlcA); and (4) sulphation of several sites (a). During CS or HS synthesis T1 transfers GalNAc (CS) to the linker, whereas Ext1/Ext2 transfers GlcNAc (HS). T1 is primarily responsible for the catalysis of the first unique step in CS chain formation^21,22,26,28 (a); therefore, T1 is the most important enzyme for regulation of CS synthesis. See Supplementary Table S2 for a description of enzyme abbreviations. Gal, galactose; GalNAc, N-acetylgalactosamine; GlcNAc, N-acetylglucosamine; GlcA, glucuronic acid; Xyl, xylose. (b) BMS scores after SCI. (c) Footfall tests after SCI. (b,c) T1KO versus WT and ChABC. Post hoc analyses were conducted using the Bonferroni–Dunn test for repeated-measures ANOVA. In b and c, data are expressed as the mean±s.e.m; *P<0.05; **P<0.01 (n=9; ANOVA). (d) Immunohistochemistry of 5HT(+) axon terminals in mice 8 weeks after SCI. 5HT (green) and CS (red). Scale bars, 1 mm.