Dermatan sulphate proteoglycan from human articular cartilage. Variation in its content with age and its structural comparison with a small chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan from pig laryngeal cartilage. (25/46)

Low molecular mass proteoglycans (PG) were isolated from human articular cartilage and from pig laryngeal cartilage, which contained protein cores of similar size (Mr 40-44 kDa). However, the PG from human articular cartilage contained dermatan sulphate (DS) chains (50% chondroitinase AC resistant), whereas chains from pig laryngeal PG were longer and contained only chondroitin sulphate (CS). Disaccharide analysis after chondroitinase ABC digestion showed that the human DS-PG contained more 6-sulphated residues (34%) than the pig CS-PG (6%) and both contained fewer 6-sulphated residues than the corresponding high Mr aggregating CS-PGs from these tissues (86% and 20% from human and pig respectively). Cross-reaction of both proteoglycans with antibodies to bovine bone and skin DS-PG-II and human fibroblasts DS-PG suggested that the isolated proteoglycans were the humans DS-PG-II and pigs CS-PG-II homologues of the cloned and sequenced bovine proteoglycan. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the pig CS-PG-II were shown to cross-react with human DS-PG-II. SDS/polyacrylamide-gel analysis and immunoblotting of pig and human cartilage extracts showed that some free core protein was present in the tissues in addition to the intact proteoglycan. The antibodies were used in a competitive radioimmunoassay to determine the content of this low Mr proteoglycan in human cartilage extracts. Analysis of samples from 5-80 year-old humans showed highest content (approximately 4 mg/g wet wt.) in those from 15-25 year-olds and lower content (approximately 1 mg/g wet wt.) in older tissue (greater than 55 years). These changes in content may be related to the deposition and maintenance of the collagen fibre network with which this class of small proteoglycan has been shown to interact.  (+info)

Sonographic anatomy of the larynx, with particular reference to the vocal cords. (26/46)

Sonographic images of the vocal cords were obtained in 41 healthy human subjects using a phased array realtime ultrasound scanner. The thyroid cartilage provides the acoustic window for sonographic visualization of the vocal cords. The false vocal cords appear as hyperechoic structures, while the true vocal cords are seen as hypoechoic structures. The symmetry of movement of the vocal cords during respiration becomes apparent on examination in real time. Sonography may prove to be a potentially useful technique for the examination of the vocal cords.  (+info)

Cartilage proteoglycans. Assembly with hyaluronate and link protein as studied by electron microscopy. (27/46)

Aggregates formed by the interaction of cartilage proteoglycan monomers and fragments thereof with hyaluronate were studied by electron microscopy by use of rotary shadowing [Wiedemann, Paulsson, Timpl, Engel & Heinegard (1984) Biochem. J. 224, 331-333]. The differences in shape and packing of the proteins bound along the hyaluronate strand in aggregates formed in the presence and in the absence of link protein were examined in detail. The high resolution of the method allowed examination of the involvement in hyaluronate binding of the globular core-protein domains G1, G2 and G3 [Wiedemann, Paulsson, Timpl, Engel & Heinegard (1984) Biochem. J. 224, 331-333; Paulsson, Morgelin, Wiedemann, Beardmore-Gray, Dunham, Hardingham, Heinegard, Timpl & Engel (1987) Biochem. J. 245, 763-772]. Fragments comprising the globular hyaluronate-binding region G1 form complexes with hyaluronate with an appearance of necklace-like structures, statistically interspaced by free hyaluronate strands. The closest centre-to-centre distance found between adjacent G1 domains was 12 nm. Another fragment comprising the binding region G1 and the adjacent second globular domain G2 attaches to hyaluronate only by one globule. Also, the core protein obtained by chondroitinase digestion of proteoglycan monomer binds only by domain G1, with domain G3 furthest removed from the hyaluronate. Globule G1 shows a statistical distribution along the hyaluronate strands. In contrast, when link protein is added, binding is no longer random, but instead uninterrupted densely packed aggregates are formed.  (+info)

Protein-polysaccharides of pig laryngeal cartilage. (28/46)

1. Protein-polysaccharides of chondroitin 4-sulphate were extracted with neutral calcium chloride from pig laryngeal cartilage that was not completely homogenized. The protein-polysaccharides were purified by precipitation with 9-aminoacridine. On zone electrophoresis in compressed glass fibre at pH7.2 it was separated into two fractions, although two distinct zones were not obtained. These fractions, which had already been shown to differ in their antigenic determinants, also differed considerably in amino acid composition, total protein, hexose and glucosamine contents. 2. The fraction of higher mobility contained approx. 2% of protein and only traces of glucosamine. Serine and glycine accounted for over half the total amino acid residues, but aromatic, basic and sulphur-containing amino acids were not detected. The weight-average molecular weight, determined by sedimentation, was 230000. 3. Assuming that there was the same sequence of neutral sugars at the linkage points as in PP-L fraction (protein-polysaccharide light fraction), the approximate molar ratio of hexose to serine suggested that most of the serine residues were linked to chondroitin sulphate chains. Support for this was derived from the agreement between the weight-average molecular weight of the chondroitin sulphate-peptide after proteolysis, and the chain weight calculated from its serine content. The chain weight based on the serine content of the fraction of higher electrophoretic mobility was approximately similar. 4. In contrast, the fraction of lower electrophoretic mobility resembled PP-L fraction in its amino acid composition, protein and glucosamine contents. The presence of glucosamine, together with the higher hexose content, suggested that this fraction contained some keratan sulphate. 5. The relatively low molecular weight of the fraction of higher mobility enabled it to be extracted without complete disintegration of the cartilage. The unlikelihood of its being produced by autolytic enzymes is discussed.  (+info)

Studies on protein-polysaccharides from pig laryngeal cartilage. Heterogeneity, fractionation and characterization. (29/46)

1. Protein-polysaccharides from pig laryngeal cartilage extracted by two procedures described in the preceding paper (Tsiganos & Muir, 1969) were shown to consist of macromolecules of various sizes as assessed by gel filtration in 4% and 6% agarose. 2. A larger proportion of the smaller molecules was present in the preparation obtained by brief extraction in iso-osmotic sodium acetate (procedure I) than in that obtained by more prolonged extraction in 10% (w/v) calcium chloride (procedure II). 3. Two fractions were separated by gel filtration in 6% agarose and by electrophoresis in compressed glass fibre. These fractions differed in chemical composition and in antigenic determinants. The gel-retarded fraction R and that of higher electrophoretic mobility possessed the same single antigen, whereas the gel-excluded fraction E and the slower electrophoretic fraction contained all the antigens of the starting material including that of fraction R. 4. Five N-terminal amino acid residues were identified in preparation I and fraction E, only two of which were present in fraction R. 5. The relative proportions of gel-excluded and gel-retarded fractions did not change when solutions of high ionic strength, urea or guanidine hydrochloride were used for elution. 6. The differences in chemical and amino acid composition between fractions R and E showed that the latter was not a simple aggregate of the former. Fraction E contained more basic and aromatic amino acids, and some methionine and cystine; the last two were absent from fraction R. Hydroxyproline was not detected in either fraction. 7. The number of glycosidic linkages in both fractions was estimated by alkaline beta-elimination. Appreciable amounts of threonine as well as serine were destroyed in both fractions. An average chain length for chondroitin sulphate was calculated from the galactosamine content of both fractions and the amounts of hydroxy amino acid destroyed. Average chain lengths were also calculated from the xylose and galactosamine content of each fraction. Each independent method gave a value of approximately 28 disaccharide units for the chain length in both fractions and hence their difference in size could not be explained by differences in the length of carbohydrate chains. 8. All fractions contained glucosamine, which was attributed to keratan sulphate. Content of both protein and keratan sulphate increased with the size of the macromolecules. 9. It is suggested, from these results, that chondroitin sulphate-protein complexes normally exist as a heterogeneous population of macromolecules in cartilage, and that keratan sulphate is involved in the formation of larger molecules.  (+info)

Studies on protein-polysaccharides from pig laryngeal cartilage. Extraction and purification. (30/46)

1. Protein-polysaccharides of chondroitin sulphate were extracted from fresh laryngeal cartilage at pH6.8 by two procedures. Procedure I consisted of brief low-speed homogenization in 0.15m (iso-osmotic) sodium acetate and procedure II consisted of longer homogenization followed by prolonged extraction in 10% calcium chloride solution. 2. The protein-polysaccharides in both extracts were isolated and purified by precipitation with 9-aminoacridine hydrochloride. They were free from serum proteins, collagen and nucleic acids and also of degradative enzymes. The absence of such enzymes was shown by viscosity measurements on solutions of protein-polysaccharides incubated for up to 24hr. at pH4 and 6.8. 3. Mannose, glucose or fucose were not detected by paper chromatography and only traces of sialic acid were present. 4. The yield with procedure II was twice that with procedure I and the products differed in their protein and glucosamine contents. 5. Hyaluronic acid was unlikely to have been precipitated at an acid pH, so the glucosamine was attributed to keratan sulphate, as serum proteins were absent. There was no free keratan sulphate in the preparation. 6. Both preparations were heterogeneous in the ultracentrifuge, showing at least three components.  (+info)

Biosynthesis of proteoglycans in cartilage slices. Fractionation by gel chromatography and equilibrium density-gradient centrifugation. (31/46)

The kinetics of incorporation of [(35)S]sulphate into slices of pig laryngeal cartilage in vitro was linear with time up to 6h. The specific radioactivities of the extracted proteoglycans (containing about 80% of the uronic acid of the cartilage) and the glycosaminoglycans remaining in the tissue after extraction were measured after various times of continuous and ;pulse-chase' radioactivity incorporation. Radioactivity was present in the isolated chondroitin sulphate after 2 min, but there was a 35min delay in its appearance in the extractable proteoglycan fraction. Fractionation of the proteoglycans by gel chromatography showed that the smallest molecules had the highest specific radioactivity, but ;pulse-chase' experiments over 5h did not demonstrate any precursor-product relationships between fractions of different size. Equilibrium density-gradient centrifugation in 4m-guanidine hydrochloride showed that among the proteoglycan fractions the specific radioactivity increased as the chondroitin sulphate content decreased, but with preparations from ;pulse-chase' experiments there was again no evidence for precursor-product relationships between the different fractions. Differences in radioactive incorporation would seem to reflect metabolic heterogeneity within the proteoglycans extracted from cartilage. This may be due either to a partial separation of different types of proteoglycans or to differences in the rates of degradation of the molecules of different size and composition as a result of the nature and specificity of the normal degrading enzymes. The results suggest that molecules of all sizes were formed at the same time.  (+info)

Binding of oligosaccharides of hyaluronic acid to proteoglycans. (32/46)

Oligosaccharides derived from hyaluronic acid were shown to inhibit proteoglycan-hyaluronic acid interaction, as measured in a viscometer. The relative inhibition increased with the size of the oligosaccharide and the results suggested that decasaccharides were the smallest fragments able to bind strongly to the proteoglycan.  (+info)