Chondroitin sulfate and dermatan sulfate proteoglycans are distinguished by differences in their proportion of d-glucuronosyl and l-iduronosyl residues, the latter being formed by chondroitin-glucuronate 5-epimerase during or after glycosaminoglycan chain polymerization. To investigate the influence of the core protein on the extent of epimerization, we expressed chimeric proteins in 293 HEK ce...

Blood coagulation involves the sequential activation of a series of serine proteinases, which culminates in the generation of thrombin and subsequent thrombin-catalysed conversion of fibrinogen into insoluble fibrin (Furie and Furie, 1988). Inhibitory modulation of this process, of paramount physiological importance, is primarily achieved by two principally different mechanisms (Figure 1). The ...

Hyaluronan, a beneficial glycosaminoglycan that may affect the phenotype of cardiac hypertrophy: a hypothesis. Access to the published version may require subscription.

Although interactions of proteins with glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), such as heparin and heparan sulphate, are of great biological importance, structural requirements for protein-GAG binding have not been well-characterised. Ionic interactions are important in promoting protein-GAG binding. Polyelectrolyte theory suggests that much of the free energy of binding comes from entropically favourable r...

Biglycan is a member of the small leucine-rich proteoglycan family. Its core protein comprises two chondroitin/dermatan sulfate attachment sites on serine 42 and serine 47, respectively, which are the fifth and tenth amino acid residues, respectively, after removal of the prepro peptide. Because the regulation of glycosaminoglycan chain assembly is not fully understood and because of the in viv...

Inhibition of thrombin by heparin cofactor (HCII) is accelerated approximately 1000-fold by heparin or dermatan sulfate. We found recently that the mutation Arg189----His decreases the affinity of HCII for dermatan sulfate but not for heparin (Blinder, M. A., Andersson, T. R., Abildgaard, U., and Tollefsen, D. M. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 5128-5133). Other investigators have implicated Arg47 a...

BACKGROUND In this feasibility study, a mechanically loaded in-vitro tissue culture model of joint morphogenesis using the isolated lower extremity of the 8 day old chick embryo was developed to assess the effects of mechanical loading on joint morphogenesis. METHODS The developed in-vitro system allows controlled flexion and extension of the chick embryonic knee with a range of motion of 20 ...

Hyaluronan, a high molecular weight glycosaminoglycan is associated with cellular proliferation and migration. In a number of different tumour types, there is a close correlation between tumour progression and hyaluronan production, either by the tumour cells or the surrounding stromal cells. We have examined the ability of an aggressive melanoma cell line (C8161) to stimulate the synthesis of ...