scholarly journals Biosynthesis and metabolism in vivo of intervertebral-disc proteoglycans in the mouse

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.

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.


1985 ◽  
Vol 228 (2) ◽  
pp. 443-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Venn ◽  
R M Mason

The absence of keratan sulphate synthesis from skeletal tissues of young and mature mice and rats has been confirmed by (1) analysis of specific enzyme degradation products of newly synthesized glycosaminoglycans, and (2) immunohistochemistry and radioimmunoassay using a monoclonal antibody directed against keratan sulphate. Approx. 98% of the [35S]glycosaminoglycans synthesized in vivo by mouse and rat costal cartilage, and all of those of lumbar disc, are chondroitin sulphate. The remainder in costal cartilage were identified as heparan sulphate in mature rats. In contrast, [35S]glycosaminoglycans synthesized by cornea of both species comprised both chondroitin sulphate and keratan sulphate. In mice keratan sulphate accounted for 12-25% and in rats 40-50% of the total [35S]glycosaminoglycans, depending on the age of the animal. Experiments in vitro with organ culture of cartilage and cornea confirm these results. Absence of keratan sulphate from mouse costal cartilage and lumbar disc D1-proteoglycans was corroborated by inhibition radioimmunoassay with the monoclonal antibody MZ15 and by lack of staining for keratan sulphate in indirect immunofluorescence studies using the same antibody.


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.


1993 ◽  
Vol 293 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
V Vilím ◽  
A J Fosang

Approx. 10% of the total proteoglycan content of normal young human articular cartilage was extracted under associative conditions with Dulbecco's PBS. Proteoglycans isolated from the extract by Q-Sepharose chromatography were separated by gel chromatography and characterized by gradient gel SDS/PAGE and immunoblotting. Three species of small proteoglycans, two main populations of aggrecan and a population of its smaller fragments were identified. The major populations of aggrecan contained chondroitin sulphate chains, all or part of the N-terminal G1 and G2 domains and, therefore, intact keratan sulphate domains. The larger population was estimated by gradient SDS/PAGE to have a molecular mass of approx. 600 kDa or greater. The second population had an apparent molecular mass of approx. 300-600 kDa. Core proteins derived from these populations of proteoglycans separated on SDS/PAGE into several clusters of bands in the range from 120 to approx. 360 kDa. The extract further contained smaller fragments which lacked chondroitin sulphate but reacted with antibodies against keratan sulphate, and against epitopes present in the G2 domain of aggrecan. The presence of the G2 domain in a broad range of populations of decreasing size indicated extensive cleavage of the aggrecan core protein within its chondroitin sulphate domain. These findings suggest that fragmentation of aggrecan probably occurs in vivo in normal articular cartilage of young individuals. Associative extracts also contained decorin, biglycan and fibromodulin. These were resolved from aggrecan by gel chromatography and identified by immunodetection.


1975 ◽  
Vol 149 (3) ◽  
pp. 657-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Baxter ◽  
H Muir

Proteoglycans extracted with 4M-guanidinium chloride from pig laryngeal cartilage and bovine nasal septum were purified by density-gradient centrifugation in CsCl under ‘associative’ followed by ‘dissociative’ conditions [Hascall & Sajdera (1969) J. Biol. Chem.244, 2384-2396]. Proteoglycans were then digested exhaustively with testicular hyaluronidase, which removed about 80% of the chondroitin sulphate. The hyaluronidase was purified until no proteolytic activity was detectable under the conditions used for digestion. The resulting ‘core’ proteins of both species were fractionated by a sequence of gel-chromatographic procedures which gave four major fractions of decreasing hydrodynamic size. Those that on electrophoresis penetrated 5.6% (w/v) polyacrylamide gels migrated as discrete bands whose mobility increased with decreasing hydrodynamic size. The unfractionated ‘core’ proteins had the same N-terminal amino acids as the intact proteoglycan, suggesting that no peptide bonds had been cleaved during hyaluronidase digestion. Alanine predominated as the N-terminal residue in all the fractions of both species. Fractions were analysed for amino acid, amino sugar, uronic acid and neutral sugar compositions. In pig ‘core’ proteins, the glutamic acid content increased significantly with hydrodynamic size, but in bovine ‘core’ proteins this trend was less marked. Significant differences in amino acid composition between fractions suggested that in each species there was more than one variety of proteoglycan. The molar proportions of xylose to serine destroyed on alkaline β-elimination were equivalent in most fractions, indicating that the serine residues destroyed were attached to the terminal xylose of chondroitin sulphate chains. The ratio of serine residues to threonine residues destroyed on β-elimination, was similar in all fractions of both species. Since the fractions of smallest hydrodynamic size contained less keratan sulphate than those of larger size, it implies that in the former the keratan sulphate chains were shorter than in the latter.


1981 ◽  
Vol 195 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Franzén ◽  
S Inerot ◽  
S O Hejderup ◽  
D Heinegård

Punch biopsies of bovine hip articular cartilage was sectioned according to depth and the proteoglycans were isolated. The mid-sections of the cartilage contained more proteoglycans than did either the superficial or the deepest portions of the cartilage proteoglycans than did either the superficial or the deepest portions of the cartilage. The most superficial 40 micrometer of the cartilage contained relatively more glucosaminoglycans compared with the remainder of the cartilage. The proteoglycans recovered from the surface 200 micrometer layer contained less chondroitin sulphate, were smaller and almost all of these molecules were able to interact with hyaluronic acid to form aggregates. From about 200 micrometer and down to 1040 micrometer from the surface, the proteoglycans became gradually somewhat smaller, probably owing to decreasing size of the chondroitin sulphate-rich region. The proportion of molecules that were able to interact with the hyaluronic acid was about 90% and remained constant with depth. The proteoglycans from the deepest layer near the cartilage-bone junction contained a large proportion of non-aggregating molecules, and the average size of the proteoglycans was somewhat larger. The alterations of proteoglycan structure observed with increasing depth of the articular cartilage beneath the surface layer (to 200 micrometer) are of the same nature as those observed with increasing age in full-thickness articular cartilage. The articular-cartilage proteoglycans were smaller and had much higher keratan sulphate and protein contents that did molecules isolated from bovine nasal or tracheal cartilage.


1972 ◽  
Vol 130 (3) ◽  
pp. 729-738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Å. Wasteson ◽  
U. Lindahl ◽  
A. Hallén

1. Chondroitin sulphate was isolated from different regions of rat costal cartilage after extensive proteolysis of the tissues. The molecular weight, determined by gel chromatography, of the polysaccharide obtained from an actively growing region (lateral zone) near the osteochondral junction was higher than that of the polysaccharide isolated from the remaining portion of the costal cartilage (medial zone). 2. In both types of cartilage the molecular weight of chondroitin sulphate, labelled with [35S]sulphate, remained unchanged in vivo over a period of 10 days, approximately corresponding to the half-life of the chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan. The molecular-weight distribution of chondroitin [35S]sulphate, labelled in vivo or in vitro, was invariably identical with that of the bulk polysaccharide from the same tissue. It is concluded that the observed regional variations in molecular-weight distribution were established at the time of polysaccharide biosynthesis. 3. In tissue culture more than half of the 35S-labelled polysaccharide–proteins of the two tissues was released into the medium within 10 days of incubation. The released materials were of smaller molecular size than were the corresponding native proteoglycans. In contrast, the molecular-weight distribution of the chondroitin [35S]sulphate (single polysaccharide chains) remained constant throughout the incubation period. 4. A portion (about 20%) of the total radioactive material released from 35S-labelled cartilage in tissue culture was identified as inorganic [35S]sulphate. No corresponding decrease in the degree of sulphation of the labelled polysaccharide could be detected. These findings suggest that a limited fraction of the proteoglycan molecules had been extensively desulphated. 5. It is suggested that the initial phase of degradation involves proteolytic cleavage of the proteoglycan, but the constituent polysaccharide chains remain intact. The partially degraded proteoglycan may be eliminated from the cartilage by diffusion into the circulatory system. An additional degradative process, which may occur intracellularly, includes desulphation of the polysaccharide, probably in conjunction with a more extensive breakdown of the polymer.


1994 ◽  
Vol 304 (3) ◽  
pp. 887-894 ◽  
Author(s):  
V Vilim ◽  
A J Fosang

Proteoglycans extracted with 4 M guanidinium chloride from young (mean 20 years) or old (mean 79 years) macroscopically normal human articular cartilage were separated by density gradient centrifugation and Q-Sepharose chromatography and characterized by gradient gel SDS/PAGE and immunodetection before and after removal of glycosaminoglycan chains. The extracts contained two large populations of aggrecan, a population of small N-terminal aggrecan fragments, as well as decorin, biglycan and fibromodulin. The distribution of all these species in density gradient fractions has been determined. The large aggrecan populations comprised four different chondroitin sulphate-bearing core proteins while the population of smaller fragments comprised eight different components. The two smallest fragments (35 and 42 kDa), identified as the first globular domain of aggrecan (N-terminal) (G1) and containing no glycosaminoglycan, were detected only in extracts of old cartilage. A 55 and a 70 kDa fragment of G1 were present in both keratan sulphate-containing and non-keratan sulphate-containing forms. Four other fragments, each containing keratan sulphate epitopes, were identified and these contained either G1 epitopes (one 95 kDa species), or G1 and G2 epitopes (three species). These results have suggested that proteolytic processing at the N-terminus is more extensive than has previously been recognized and raises the possibility that more than one proteinase may be involved in aggrecan degradation in vivo. With the exception of the two smallest G1 fragments, the repertoire of proteoglycan fragments found in young and old human articular cartilage is essentially the same, although the relative abudnance of various species differed. The older tissue contains a larger proportion of C-terminally truncated aggrecan fragments and a significantly decreased content of decorin and biglycan.


2006 ◽  
pp. 084-093
Author(s):  
Alla Mikhailovna Zaidman ◽  
Anastasia Viktorovna Korel ◽  
Valentina Ivanovna Rykova ◽  
Elvira Vitalyevna Grigoryeva ◽  
Tatyana Yuryevna Eschenko ◽  
...  

Objective. To study etiologic factors and pathogenetic mechanisms of scoliosis development. Material and Methods. We investigated vertebral body growth plates (GP) from convex and concave sides of the curve, intervertebral discs (IVD), and vertebral bone tissue – surgical material obtained from 100 patients at the age from 10 to 14 years with III–IV grade idiopathic scoliosis (IS). Structural components of the spine of 12–14 years old children obtained from the forensic medicine department were used as controls. The methods of morphohistochemistry, biochemistry, and ultrastructural analysis were used to study glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), oxidation-reduction enzymes, alkali and acid phosphatases, RNA, DNA, qualitative and quantitative composition of GAGs. The expression of proteoglycan genes of cartilage tissue and their protein products was investigated with molecular genetic assays. Results. Pathogenetic mechanism of spine deformity formation in idiopathic scoliosis was formulated. It was shown that idiopathic scoliosis development is predetermined by a disorder in regulation and synthesis of proteoglycans in vertebral GP. The decrease of chondroitin sulphate and increase of keratan sulphate components in proteoglycans indicate the change of proteoglycan spectrum in IS. The revealed keratan sulphate fraction is a result of increased expression of lumikan gene in condition of sharp decrease of aggrecan gene expression and its protein product quantity in chondroblasts of patients with III–IV grade IS. Conclusion. Alteration in aggrecan gene expression at the level of transcription and translation testifies for its involvement in scoliosis development.


1996 ◽  
Vol 320 (1) ◽  
pp. 301-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma L AKUFFO ◽  
Jayne R HUNT ◽  
Jill MOSS ◽  
David WOODROW ◽  
Malcolm DAVIES ◽  
...  

Rats were implanted with mini osmotic pumps delivering sodium [35S]sulphate and their newly synthesized proteoglycans were labelled over a 146 h period (steady-state labelling). Proteoglycan turnover was measured in vivo using a chase protocol. Glomerular proteoglycans were recovered quantitatively and the perlecan present was isolated by immunoprecipitation. The procedure allows newly synthesized proteoglycans to be quantified in mass units (pmol of glycosaminoglycan sulphate) after labelling and during the chase. Ultrastructural-immunogold experiments identified the location of perlecan as the glomerular basement membrane and mesangial matrix. Perlecan in the basement membrane was quantified using the ultrastructural-immunogold technique. Perlecan comprises about 10% of the total glomerular proteoglycans, which are otherwise associated with glomerular cells and the mesangium. Both the total glomerular heparan sulphate proteoglycans and perlecan turn over rapidly (t½ ∼ 3–4 h and < 3 h respectively). In contrast, turnover of proteoglycans in other tissues was slow, except in the liver where the heparan sulphate and chondroitin sulphate t½ values were 16 h and 9 h respectively. Microalbuminuria was induced with a low-dose regimen of puromycin aminonucleoside. At the onset of microalbuminuria (5 days) there was no change in the level of newly synthesized perlecan, or in perlecan in the glomerular basement membrane detected by immunogold labelling. Newly synthesized perlecan had undergone a minimal change in turnover rate by day 5 in puromycin aminonucleoside-treated rats. In contrast, the total glomerular proteoglycan population showed a dramatic decrease in turnover by day 5. Since there was no evidence of accumulation of glomerular proteoglycans on either day 5 or day 6, it is likely that decreased turnover of cell-associated proteoglycans is accompanied by an equivalent decrease in their synthesis.


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