We have identified a role for two evolutionarily related, secreted metalloproteases of the ADAMTS family, ADAMTS20 and ADAMTS9, in palatogenesis. Adamts20 mutations cause the mouse white-spotting mutant belted (bt), whereas Adamts9 is essential for survival beyond 7.5 days gestation (E7.5). Functional overlap of Adamts9 with Adamts20 was identified using Adamts9(+/-);bt/bt mice, which have a fu...

Interleukin-17A (IL-17A), a proinflammatory cytokine mainly produced by T helper 17 cells, exerts protumor or antitumor effects in different cancer entities. However, the exact role of IL-17A in carcinogenesis and progression of tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) remains unclear. Here, we found that the levels of IL-17A in serum and tumor samples were significantly increased in TSCC patients...

Low expression of RhoGDI2 is associated with poor outcome in cancer patients. In animal models, RhoGDI2 suppresses lung metastasis by reducing the expression of the proteoglycan versican, whose levels portend poor patient prognosis. Versican promotes metastasis through enhanced tumor migration and creation of an inflammatory lung environment involving macrophages and the CCL2/CCR2 signaling axi...

The purpose of the present study was to histopathologically and immunohistochemically investigate the distribution of proteoglycans in human periodontal ligament (PDL). Specimens from osteotomy and tooth extraction having healthy PDL were studied. Histologically, PDL consisted of fibrous tissues, involving a compact arrangement area and edematous or myxoid area. Immunohistochemically, versican ...

Peanut agglutinin-binding disaccharides and chondroitin sulfate mark transient mesenchymal barriers to advancing motor and sensory axons innervating the hindlimbs during chick development. Here we show that the vast majority of these carbohydrates are at the critical stage and location attached to the versican splice variants V0 and V1. We reveal that the isolated isoforms of this extracellular...

Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) induce a cartilage-specific extracellular matrix (ECM) gene, aggrecan, in a chondrogenic cell line, ATDC5. The results of our recent study show that TGF-β1, but not BMP-4, strongly induces an ECM gene, fibronectin, during chondrogenesis. However, the role of fibronectin in chondrogenesis is unclear. In the current study, ou...

INTRODUCTION: Versican is a large chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSPG). It is one of extracellular proteoglycans that bind to hyaluronan (HA) of which aggrecan, the cartilage-specific proteoglycan is the prototype. Previous studies reported that versican expression is correlated with tumor progression in several types of cancer.(1) Our preliminary study indicated that versican did not expres...

Versican is one of the major extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in the brain. ECM molecules and their cleavage products critically regulate the growth and arborization of neurites, hence adjusting the formation of neural networks. Recent findings have revealed that peptide fragments containing the versican C terminus (G3 domain) are present in human brain astrocytoma. The present study demonst...

We have examined whether changes in versican levels, or in the sulfation pattern of its chondroitin sulfate (CS) side chains, are associated with the reduction in perialveolar tissue volumes that characterize lung maturation in late-gestation fetal sheep. Lung tissue was collected from fetuses [90-142 days gestational age (GA)] and lambs (2 wk after term birth). The level and distribution of ve...

OBJECTIVE The importance of the extracellular matrix molecules versican, biglycan, decorin, and hyaluronan in plaque instability has not been recognized. METHODS AND RESULTS Coronary lesions with acute thrombi and stable plaques were examined for the accumulation and distribution of specific proteoglycans and hyaluronan at culprit sites. The cell surface receptor for hyaluronan, CD44, and smo...