A small proteoglycan that contains only a single dermatan sulfate chain is the main proteoglycan synthesized by skin fibroblasts. Fibroblasts from a patient with progeroidal appearance and symptoms of the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome have a reduced ability of converting the core protein of this proteoglycan into a mature glycosaminoglycan chain-bearing species. This abnormality is the consequence of ...

Previously, it was demonstrated that the embryonic corneal epithelium produces the chondroitin sulfate and heparan-sulfate-like compounds and the collagen of the primary corneal stroma. Synthesis of all of these extracellular materials is greatly enhanced in vitro when isolated epithelium is grown on collagenous substrata instead of Millipore filters. We report here that chondroitin sulfate, he...

The dimethylmethylene blue assay showed higher concentrations of glycosaminoglycans in many synovial fluids from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) than in autologous sera or sera or synovial fluids from normal subjects. These results were taken to suggest that the glycosaminoglycans in RA synovial fluid were abnormally raised and derived from cartilage. To discover what stimulated such gl...

We have developed a rapid, high throughput screening assay for compounds that alter the assembly of glycosaminoglycan chains in Chinese hamster ovary cells. The assay uses autoradiography to measure the binding of newly synthesized [35S]proteoglycans and [35S]glycosaminoglycans to a positively charged membrane. Screening over 1000 extracts from a random plant collection obtained from the Amazon...

BACKGROUND The zebrafish is an important developmental model. Surprisingly, there are few studies that describe the glycosaminoglycan composition of its extracellular matrix during skeletogenesis. Glycosaminoglycans on proteoglycans contribute to the material properties of musculo skeletal connective tissues, and are important in regulating signalling events during morphogenesis. Sulfation moti...

Urinary glycosaminoglycan excretion was examined in 25 individuals with bladder cancer in comparison to glycosaminoglycan excretion by eight normal individuals. Urinary glycosaminoglycan was isolated by gel filtration and quantified as macromolecular uronate concentration. Electrophoresis in calcium acetate and densitometry of Alcian blue-stained electrophoretograms were used to separate and qu...

Mechanical trauma has been shown to cause chondrocyte death. The response of the surviving cells has not been fully characterized especially with regards to aging. This study investigates the response to injury in aging chondrocytes. Human articular chondrocytes from younger and older donor knees were cultured in agarose gel disks for three weeks. Disks were submitted to a brief 30% compressive...

The response of the rabbit knee joint to a brief episode of cytokine induced damage is described. After three intra-articular injections of catabolin/interleukin-1 all joint cartilages showed an immediate extensive loss of proteoglycan (glycosaminoglycan), which was gradually replaced over three to four weeks. Glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis (measured by 35SO4 uptake) was initially depressed, bu...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of some commonly used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on human tendon. Explants of human digital flexor and patella tendons were cultured in medium containing pharmacological concentrations of NSAIDs. Cell proliferation was measured by incorporation of 3 H-thymidine and glycosaminoglycan synthesis was measured by incorporat...