scholarly journals The chemical constitution of the proteoglycan of human intervertebral disc

1976 ◽  
Vol 157 (3) ◽  
pp. 753-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
R H Pearce ◽  
B J Grimmer

Proteoglycan was prepared from three pools of normal human intervertebral discs by extraction with buffered 4M-guanidinium chloride followed by CsCl-density-gradient ultracentrifugation. Chromatography on agarose (Bio-Gel A-150m) and on DEAE-cellulose suggested a single polydisperse proteoglycan species. The intrinsic viscosities of three preparations were 166, 122 and 168 ml/g. After degradation with 0.5M-KOH containing 0.02M-NaBH4, the glycosaminoglycans were recovered quantitatively and their Ca2+ salts separated into a hexuronate-rich fraction (fraction 1), which was precipitated in 0-45% (v/v) ethanol, and a hexose-rich fraction (fraction2), which was precipitated in 45-70% (v/v) ethanol. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the glycosaminoglycans revealed fraction 1 to be chondroitin sulphate, and fraction 2 to be keratan sulphate; the latter was contaminated with protein and possibly a small amount of another glycosaminoglycan. For both glycosaminoglycans, plots of log(mol.wt.) against weight fell close to a normal distribution. The mode for chondroitin sulphate was close to 20000; that for keratan sulphate, 10000. A threefold range of molecular weight included the central 16-84% [+/- 1 S.D. of log(mol.wt.)] of the weight of both fractions.

1978 ◽  
Vol 173 (3) ◽  
pp. 935-939 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Speziale ◽  
M S Speziale ◽  
L Galligani ◽  
C Balduini

Proteoglycans were extracted from bovine cornea with 4M-guanidinium chloride and purified by CsCl-density-gradient centrifugation. Under associative conditions two fractions were found: one capable of forming assemblies of high molecular weight and another lacking this property. The heavier fraction (density 1.59 g/ml) was eluted as a single retarded peak from Sepharose 2B, but on DEAE-Sephadex chromatography, gave two peaks: the first (eluted with 0.75 M-NaCl) contained mainly proteochondroitin sulphate and the second (eluted with 1.25 M-NaCl) mainly proteokeratan sulphate. Each of these proteoglycans was more retarded on Sepharose 2B than was the original sample from density-gradient centrifugation. Re-aggregation was obtained by recombination of the two fractions. The lighter fraction (density 1.44 g/ml), containing predominantly keratan sulphate chains, was eluted from DEAE-Sephadex as a single peak with 1.25 M-NaCl and was retarded on Sepharose 2B: this fraction was not able to form aggregates with proteochondroitin sulphate. Chemical analyses of the carbohydrate and protein moieties of the proteoglycans from DEAE-Sephadex confirmed that, in the cornea, different subunits are present with characteristic aggregation properties and hydrodynamic volumes.


1982 ◽  
Vol 206 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles J. Malemud ◽  
Victor M. Goldberg ◽  
Roland W. Moskowitz ◽  
Lee L. Getzy ◽  
Robert S. Papay ◽  
...  

Proteoglycan biosynthesis by human osteochondrophytic spurs (osteophytes) obtained from osteoarthritic femoral heads at the time of surgical joint replacement was studied under defined culture conditions in vitro. Osteophytes were primarily present in two anatomic locations, marginal and epi-articular. Minced tissue slices were incubated in the presence of [35S]sulphate or [14C]glucosamine. Osteophytes incorporated both labelled precursors into proteoglycan, which was subsequently characterized by CsCl-isopycnic-density-gradient ultracentrifugation and chromatography on Sepharose CL-2B. The material extracted with 0.5m-guanidinium chloride showed 78.1% of [35S]sulphate in the A1 fraction after centrifugation. Only 23.0% of the [35S]sulphate in this A1 fraction was eluted in the void volume of Sepharose CL-2B under associative conditions. About 60–80% of the [35S]sulphate in the tissue 4m-guanidinium chloride extract was associated with monomeric proteoglycan (fraction D1). The average partition coefficient (Kav.) of the proteoglycan monomer on Sepharose CL-2B was 0.28–0.33. Approx. 12.4% of this monomer formed stable aggregates with high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid in vitro. Sepharose CL-2B chromatography of fractions with lower buoyant densities (fractions D2–D4) demonstrated elution profiles on Sepharose CL-2B substantially different than that of fraction D1, indicative of the polydisperse nature of the newly synthesized proteoglycan. Analysis of the composition and chain size of the glycosaminoglycans showed the following: (1) preferential elution of both [35S]sulphate and [14C]glucosamine in the 0.5m-LiCl fraction on DEAE-cellulose; (2) the predominant sulphated glycosaminoglycan was chondroitin 6-sulphate (60–70%), with 9–11% keratan sulphate in the monomer proteoglycan; (3) Kav. values of 0.38 on Sephadex G-200 and 0.48 on Sepharose CL-6B were obtained with papain-digested and NaBH4-treated D1 monomer respectively. A comparison of the synthetic with endogenous glycosaminoglycans indicated similar types. These studies indicated that human osteophytes synthesized in vitro sulphated proteoglycans with some characteristics similar to those of mature human articular cartilage, notably in the size of their proteoglycan monomer and predominance of chondroitin 6-sulphate. They differed from articular cartilage primarily in the lack of substantial quantities of keratan sulphate and aggregation properties associated with monomer interaction with hyaluronic acid.


1984 ◽  
Vol 224 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Franzén ◽  
D Heinegård

Proteoglycans were extracted in good yields from the mineralized matrix of ground bovine bone, by using a two-step extraction procedure. Proteoglycans (8% of total), not associated with the bone mineral, were extracted at − 20 degrees C with 4M-guanidinium chloride containing proteinase inhibitors. Proteoglycans associated with the mineral, which accounted for 60% of the total, were then solubilized when EDTA was added to the extraction solvent. They were fractionated and purified in the presence of 4M-guanidinium chloride by CsCl-density-gradient centrifugations followed by chromatography on Sepharose CL-4B. Further purification was obtained by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and hydroxyapatite in the presence of 7 M-urea. Three populations of proteoglycans and additional glycosaminoglycan peptides were obtained. The molecular dimensions of both intact molecules and of their side chains as well as their amino acid composition were different, indicating that they represent separate molecular entities. The main proteoglycan self-aggregated in the absence of 4M-guanidinium chloride or 7 M-urea, a property that was abolished when the proteoglycan core protein was fragmented.


1981 ◽  
Vol 197 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Heinegård ◽  
M Paulsson ◽  
S Inerot ◽  
C Carlström

Proteoglycans were isolated from cartilage by extraction with 4M-guanidinium chloride followed by direct centrifugation in 4M-guanidinium chloride/CsCl at a low starting density, 1.34 g/ml. N-Ethylmaleimide was included in the extraction solvent as a precaution against contamination of proteoglycans with unrelated proteins mediated by disulphide exchange. A novel, discrete, low-buoyant-density proteoglycan (1.40-1.35 g/ml) was demonstrated by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. Its proteoglycan nature was revealed by the shift in the molecular size observed on gel electrophoresis after treatment with chondroitinase ABC. The core protein was monodisperse. The proteoglycan was further purified by gel chromatography with and without addition of hyaluronate. The proteoglycan constitutes less than 2% (by weight) of the total extracted proteoglycans and is not capable of interacting with hyaluronate. The same proteoglycan was purified in larger quantities by sequential associative and dissociative CsCl-density-gradient centrifugation, zonal rate sedimentation in a sucrose gradient and gel chromatography on Sepharose CL-4B. The pure proteoglycan had a molecular weight of 76 300 determined by sedimentation-equilibrium centrifugation and an apparent partial specific volume of 0.59 ml/g. It contained about 25% protein (of dry weight) and had remarkably high contents of leucine and cysteine as compared with other proteoglycans. The proteoglycan contained two to three large chondroitin sulphate chains and some oligosaccharides.


1981 ◽  
Vol 197 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
P J Roughley ◽  
D McNicol ◽  
V Santer ◽  
J Buckwalter

Proteoglycans were extracted from the adult human meniscus under dissociative conditions and purified by CsCl-density-gradient centrifugation. The preparations of highest density contained proteoglycan that possessed the ability to interact with hyaluronic acid, was of large subunit size and was composed of chondroitin sulphate, keratan sulphate and sialic acid-containing oligosaccharides. This ‘cartilage-like’ proteoglycan also exhibited subunit and aggregate structures analogous to those of hyaline-cartilage proteoglycans when examined by electron microscopy. However, the composition of this proteoglycan was more comparable with proteoglycans from immature cartilage than from age-matched cartilage. The preparations from lower density, which were enriched in dermatan sulphate, contained smaller proteoglycan that was not able to interact with hyaluronic acid. This non-aggregating proteoglycan may be structurally distinct from the ‘cartilage-like’ proteoglycan, which does not contain dermatan sulphate.


1971 ◽  
Vol 122 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Wessler

1. The non-ultrafilterable acidic glycosaminoglycans from pooled urine of normal men, aged about 20, were isolated and characterized. The isolation procedure included digestion with sialidase and pronase, and fractionation by stepwise elution from an ECTEOLA-cellulose column. The glycosaminoglycans in each fraction were separated from each other by preparative electrophoresis in sodium barbital buffer and in barium acetate. 2. Approximate relative amounts of the different glycosaminoglycans were: chondroitin sulphate 60%, chondroitin 2%, hyaluronic acid 4%, dermatan sulphate 1%, heparan sulphate 15% and keratan sulphate 18%. Chondroitin sulphate–dermatan sulphate hybrids seemed to occur in trace amounts. 3. Chondroitin sulphate, heparan sulphate and keratan sulphate were heterogeneous with respect to degree of sulphation. Two distinct groups of chondroitin sulphate fractions were found, with sulphate/hexosamine molar ratios of about 0.5 and 1 respectively. The sulphate/hexosamine molar ratios in the heparan sulphate fractions varied from 0.5 to 0.9; the N-sulphate/hexosamine ratio was about 0.5 in all fractions. The sulphate/hexosamine molar ratios in the keratan sulphate fractions varied from 0.2 to 0.7.


1979 ◽  
Vol 179 (3) ◽  
pp. 561-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
R L Stevens ◽  
R J Ewins ◽  
P A Revell ◽  
H Muir

The structure of the proteoglycans from normal pig nucleus pulposus and relatively normal human annulus fibrosus and nucleus pulposus was investigated in detail and the results were compared with the current structural model of proteoglycans of hyaline cartilage. Like proteoglycans of cartilage, those of intervertebral disc contain keratan sulphate and chondroitin sulphate attached to a protein core; they are able to aggregate to hyaluronic acid; the protein core likewise has three regions, one lacking glycosaminoglycans, another rich in keratan sulphate and a third region rich in chondroitin sulphate. However, disc proteoglycans contain more keratan sulphate and protein and less chondroitin sulphate and are also considerably smaller than cartilage proteoglycans. In proteoglycans of human discs, these differences appeared to be due principally to a shorter region of the core protein bearing the chondroitin sulphate chains, whereas in proteoglycans of pig discs their smaller size and relatively low uronic acid content were due to shorter chondroitin sulphate chains. There were subtle differences between proteoglycans from the nucleus and annulus of human discs. In the latter a higher proportion of proteoglycans was capable of binding to hyaluronate.


1974 ◽  
Vol 143 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne D. Comper ◽  
Barry N. Preston

The osmotic pressure of solutions of sulphated proteoglycans isolated from the intervertebral discs of animals of various ages was determined. The behaviour of the solutions in salt-added systems was investigated in terms of the Donnan distribution of the mobile ions. It is evident that this effect is the dominating factor in explaining the observed nonidealities. Although marked variations in the compositions of the proteoglycan, with regard to their chondroitin sulphate and keratan sulphate content and hence charge content, occur with increasing age of parent tissue, the osmotic activities of the various preparations are very similar. This is explained by the ‘fixation’ of the counterions in such a way as to counteract any change in the charge content of the polyion; an ‘osmotic buffering’ effect. The swelling behaviour of gelatin gels containing the proteoglycan preparations has been measured. In all cases pressures in excess of the sum of the osmotic pressures of the individual components are observed. However, the magnitude of the excess decreases with increasing age of the parent tissue. It is suggested that the age changes, as reflected by a decrease in water content of the gel system, are not the result of changes in the osmotic properties of the individual components but rather reflect changes in the entropic interaction of the proteoglycan with the gelatin matrix. The relevance of this observation to the situation in vivo is discussed.


1983 ◽  
Vol 215 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Venn ◽  
R M Mason

The synthesis and turnover in vivo of 35S-labelled proteoglycans in mouse cervical, thoracic and lumbar intervertebral discs, and in costal cartilage, was investigated after intraperitoneal injection of [35S]sulphate. Intervertebral discs and costal cartilage synthesize similar amounts of 35S-labelled proteoglycans per microgram of DNA. Discs and cartilage all synthesize a major proteoglycan species (approx. 85%) of large hydrodynamic size and a minor species (approx. 15%) of small size. Both proteoglycans carry chondroitin sulphate chains. Keratan sulphate was not found associated with either species. The total 35S-labelled proteoglycan pool had a metabolic half-life (t1/2) of 10-12 days in discs, and 17 days in cartilage. The extractable major and minor species turned over at similar rates. Those proteoglycans left in the tissue after 29 days turn over very slowly. Approx. 50% of the major 35S-labelled proteoglycan species formed mixed aggregates with hyaluronic acid and rat chondrosarcoma proteoglycan. The ability to form aggregates did not decrease up to 45 days after synthesis. Of the heterogeneous population of proteoglycans comprising the major species, those remaining in the tissue 9 days after synthesis were of smaller average hydrodynamic size and had shorter chondroitin sulphate side chains than the average size at the time of synthesis. With increasing time after synthesis, proteoglycans were less readily extracted from the tissue by 4.0 M-guanidinium chloride than at the time of synthesis.


1980 ◽  
Vol 191 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Oike ◽  
K Kimata ◽  
T Shinomura ◽  
K Nakazawa ◽  
S Suzuki

Digestion of chick-embryo cartilage proteoglycan (type H) with chondroitin AC II lyase or keratanase, in the presence of EDTA, N-ethylmaleimide, phenylmethanesulphonyl fluoride and pepstatin, resulted in the removal of the bulk of the chondroitin sulphate or keratan sulphate chains respectively, without altering the protein portion of the macromolecule. An exhaustive treatment of the proteoglycan with chondroitin AC II lyase followed by digestion with keratanase yielded a core fraction having the enzymically modified linkage oligosaccharides. Zonal sedimentation of this core preparation on a sucrose gradient in 0.5% SDS resulted in a single narrow band with a sedimentation coefficient of 6S. In 4 M-guanidinium chloride, the core preparation showed a tendency to aggregate to multiple-molecular-weight forms which could dissociate in the presence of Triton X-100. The results indicate that the preponderance of glycosaminoglycans in the proteoglycan molecule is a main reason for both polydispersity and hydrophilicity of the proteoglycan preparation, and further suggest that the enzymic procedures could prove useful as a method to obtain new information about the structure and properties of proteoglycan core molecules.


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