Pleiotrophin regulates presynaptic assembly and function through heparan sulfate-dependent binding to neurexin1.
Affinity purification-based proteomics shows that Ptn associates with heparan sulfate (HS)-modified neurexin1 (HS-Nrxn1) in the brain through an HS-glycan-dependent mechanism, which establishes Ptn as an extracellular organizer of presynaptic development and support a model in which Nrxn1's HS glycan provides a platform for extracellular ligand recruitment.