Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Mcrotubule-associated protein 2 serves as one of specific marker proteins of neurons, and its expression activity to a certain extent reflects the evolution law of proliferation, differentiation and migration of spinal cord nerve cells.
OBJECTIVE: To review the molecular structure, biological function, expression and distribution law in spinal cord development and damage repair of mcrotubule-associated protein 2 to provide previous fundamental research in the transplantation of neural stem cells after spinal cord injury.
METHODS: VIP and Wanfang databases were retrieved by computer with the key words of “spinal cord, microtubule-associated protein 2” in Chinese (1984/2012). At the same time, PubMed, Springer and e-book (full text) databases were retrieved with the key words of “spinal cord, microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP-2)” in English (1984/2012). Totally 325 articles were retrieved, and finally 27 were included.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Mcrotubule-associated protein 2 is not only a structural component of nerve cells, but also an active functional protein which participates in the process of neurons growth and damage repair; its expression intensities can reflect the developmental condition of spinal cord neurons. The descend of mcrotubule-associated protein 2 immune activity in spinal cord injury attracts increasing attention, and its high expression may play an important role in the reconstruction of synaptic structure and the compensation and repair of the injured nerve function. Through the test of the content and position of mcrotubule-associated protein 2, which could be used to study the proliferation, differentiation and migration of various human stem cells so as to explore the development and damage repair of central nervous system such as spinal cord.