Proteoglycans, comprised of a core protein to which glycosaminoglycan chains are covalently linked, are an important structural and functional family of macromolecules found in the extracellular matrix. Advances in our understanding of biological interactions have lead to a greater appreciation for the need to design tissue engineering scaffolds that incorporate mimetics of key extracellular ma...

The vascular trophic effects of angiotensin II (Ang II) in small doses may precede its hypertension-producing effect, and de novo synthesis of components of extracellular matrix may be a requirement for Ang II-stimulated growth. In the present study, therefore, the incorporation of 35SO4 into glycosaminoglycans (synthesis) of aorta and bladder wall of young adult, male Sprague-Dawley rats was m...

The direct 1,9-dimethylmethylene blue (DMB) method for quantifying sulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAG) in urine (Clin Chem 1989; 35:374-9) has been adapted to a convenient means for sample collection and transport as a test to identify individuals with mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) storage diseases. Results correlated moderately well (r = 0.85) with those of a commonly used, but more laborious, quan...

Holguin N, Uzer G, Chiang F-P, Rubin C, Judex S. Brief daily exposure to low-intensity vibration mitigates the degradation of the intervertebral disc in a frequency-specific manner. J Appl Physiol 111: 1846 –1853, 2011. First published September 29, 2011; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00846.2011.—Hindlimb unloading of the rat causes rapid hypotrophy of the intervertebral disc (IVD) as well as reduce...