Postnatal development of rat cerebellum: Glycosaminoglycan changes related to variation in water content, cell formation and organ growth.

Modifications of glycosaminoglycans were studied during rat cerebellum ontogenesis. Levels of both hyaluronic acid and sulphated glycosaminoglycans increase during development but not at the same rate as cerebellar size or proteins. As in the rest of the brain, cerebellar hyaluronic acid concentration decreases during development but not, as expected, in parallel with the loss of tissue water content. In contrast to forebrain, the concentration of cerebellar sulphated glycosaminoglycans decreases at a slow rate. The correlation, suggested by several authors, between glycosaminoglycans concentration and tissue hydratation, cell migration and myelination were not confirmed in developing rat cerebellum.