Changes in extracellular matrix glycosaminoglycans during the wound repair allowed us to apply the burn model in which therapeutic efficacy of propolis and silver sulfadiazine was compared. Burns were inflicted on four pigs. Glycosaminoglycans isolated from healthy and burned skin were quantified using a hexuronic acid assay, electrophoretic fractionation, and densitometric analyses. Using the ...

Chondroitin sulphate (CS) is a glycosaminoglycan widely distributed in animal tissues, which has anti-inflammatory and chondroprotective properties. We reported previously that chondroitin 4-sulphate (CS-A) up-regulates the antigen-specific Th1 immune response of murine splenocytes sensitized with ovalbumin in vitro, and that CS suppresses the antigen-specific IgE responses. We now demonstrate ...

In medium supplemented with chondroitin sulfate, Flavobacterium heparinum synthesizes and exports two chondroitinases, chondroitinase AC (chondroitin AC lyase; EC 4.2.2.5) and chondroitinase B (chondroitin B lyase; no EC number), into its periplasmic space. Chondroitinase AC preferentially depolymerizes chondroitin sulfates A and C, whereas chondroitinase B degrades only dermatan sulfate (chond...

Chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans in the extracellular matrix restrict plasticity in the adult central nervous system and their digestion with chondroitinase reactivates plasticity. However the structures in the extracellular matrix that restrict plasticity are unknown. There are many changes in the extracellular matrix as critical periods for plasticity close, including changes in chondroitin...

The use of sulfate of exogenous origin in the synthesis of chondroitin sulfate was suggested (1) and then demonstrated by the isolation of chondroitin sulfate-W from the cartilage of rats given sulfate-V6 (2, 3). Confirmatory reports have supplemented the earlier observations (4, 5). Autoradiography has been particularly effective in showing that administered sulfate-S36 is concentrated to a gr...

The validity of the reducing end group (copper reduction) method for determination of chain weight of chondroitin sulfate is shown by comparison with chain weight determination from linkage region components, xylose and galactose. It is established that chains of both chondroitin sulfate and keratan sulfate are stable to alkali as strong as 2.0 N NaOH at room temperature for at least 120 hours....

We used two approaches to determine whether the mucopolysaccharide chondroitin sulfate is an important source of carbon and energy for Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron in the intestinal tracts of germfree mice. First, we tested the ability of three mutants that grew poorly or not at all on chondroitin sulfate to colonize the intestinal tract of a germfree mouse and to compete with wild-type B. thet...

Polysaccharides (variously called as glycanes or polyholosides or polyosides) are high molecular weight carbohydrates which, on hydrolysis, yield mainly monosaccharides or products related to monosaccharides. They may also be regarded as polymeric anhydrides of simple sugars. D-glucose is the commonest component of polysaccharides. However, D-and L-galactose, D-mannose, D-xylose, L-arabinose as...

Recent results show that type IX collagen isolated from chicken cartilage is associated with one or perhaps two chondroitin sulfate chains. To locate the chondroitin sulfate chain(s) along the type IX collagen molecule, rotary shadowing was performed in the presence of monoclonal antibodies which recognize stubs of chondroitin sulfate generated after chondroitinase ABC digestion. Monoclonal ant...

In many tumors, the amount of chondroitin sulfate in the extracellular matrix has been shown to be elevated when compared to the corresponding normal tissue. Nevertheless, the degree of chondroitin sulfate increase varies widely. In order to investigate a possible correlation between the amount of chondroitin sulfate and tumor size, several individual specimens of human leiomyoma, a benign uter...