Effect of p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-xyloside on proteoglycan synthesis and extracellular matrix formation by bovine corneal endothelial cell cultures

The effect of p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-xyloside on proteoglycan synthesis and extracellular matrix (ECM) formation by cultured bovine corneal endothelial (BCE) cells was investigated. BCE cells actively proliferating on plastic dishes produced in the absence of xyloside an ECM containing various proteoglycans. Heparan sulfate was the main 35S-labeled glycosaminoglycan component (83%). Dermatan sulfate (14%) and chondroitin sulfate (3%) were also present. Exposure of actively proliferating BCE cells to xyloside totally inhibited synthesis of proteoglycans containing dermatan sulfate or chondroitin sulfate and caused an 86% inhibition of heparan sulfate proteoglycan synthesis. The heparan sulfate proteoglycans that were extracted from the ECM produced by BCE cells exposed to xyloside had a smaller size and a reduced charge density compared to their counterparts extracted from the ECM of cultures not exposed to xyloside. In contrast to the inhibitory effect of the xyloside on proteoglycan synthesis, exposure of actively proliferating BCE cells to xyloside stimulated synthesis of free chondroitin sulfate and heparan sulfate chains. All of the xyloside-initiated glycosaminoglycan chains were secreted into the culture medium. The proteoglycan-depleted matrices produced by BCE cells exposed to xyloside were used to study the effect of these matrices on proteoglycan synthesis by BCE cells. BCE cells growing on proteoglycan-depleted ECM showed a considerable increase in the rate of proteoglycan synthesis compared to BCE cells growing on normal ECM. Moreover, the pattern of glycosaminoglycan synthesis by BCE cells growing on proteoglycan-depleted ECM was changed to one which resembled that of BCE cells actively proliferating on plastic dishes. It is postulated that BCE cells are able to recognize when an ECM is depleted of proteoglycan and to respond to it by increasing their rate of proteoglycan synthesis and incorporation into the ECM.     

Multiple heparan sulfate proteoglycans synthesized by a basement membrane producing murine embryonal carcinoma cell line

The murine embryonal carcinoma derived cell line M1536-B3 secretes the basement membrane components laminin and entactin and, when grown in bacteriological dishes, produces and adheres to sacs of basement membrane components. Heparan sulfate proteoglycans have been isolated from these sacs, the cells, and the medium. At least three different heparan sulfate proteoglycans are produced by these cells as determined by proteoglycan size, glycosaminoglycan chain length, and charge density. The positions of the N- and O-sulfate groups in the glycosaminoglycan chains from each proteoglycan appear to be essentially the same despite differences in the size and culture compartment locations of the heparan sulfate proteoglycan. Additionally, small quantities of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans are found in each fraction and copurify with each heparan sulfate proteoglycan. Because this cell line appears to synthesize at least three different heparan sulfate proteoglycans which are targeted to different final locations (basement membrane, cell surface, and medium), this will be a useful system in which to study the factors which determine final heparan sulfate proteoglycan structures and culture compartment targeting and the possible effects of the protein core(s) on heparan sulfate carbohydrate chain synthesis and secretion.     

Transforming growth factor (type beta) promotes the addition of chondroitin sulfate chains to the cell surface proteoglycan (syndecan) of mouse mammary epithelia

Cultured monolayers of NMuMG mouse mammary epithelial cells have augmented amounts of cell surface chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycan (GAG) when cultured in transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), presumably because of increased synthesis on their cell surface proteoglycan (named syndecan), previously shown to contain chondroitin sulfate and heparan sulfate GAG. This increase occurs throughout the monolayer as shown using soluble thrombospondin as a binding probe. However, comparison of staining intensity of the GAG chains and syndecan core protein suggests variability among cells in the attachment of GAG chains to the core protein. Characterization of purified syndecan confirms the enhanced addition of chondroitin sulfate in TGF-beta: (a) radiosulfate incorporation into chondroitin sulfate is increased 6.2-fold in this proteoglycan fraction and heparan sulfate is increased 1.8-fold, despite no apparent increase in amount of core protein per cell, and (b) the size and density of the proteoglycan are increased, but reduced by removal of chondroitin sulfate. This is shown in part by treatment of the cells with 0.5 mM xyloside that blocks the chondroitin sulfate addition without affecting heparan sulfate. Higher xyloside concentrations block heparan sulfate as well and syndecan appears at the cell surface as core protein without GAG chains. The enhanced amount of GAG on syndecan is partly attributed to an increase in chain length. Whereas this accounts for the additional heparan sulfate synthesis, it is insufficient to explain the total increase in chondroitin sulfate; an approximately threefold increase in chondroitin sulfate chain addition occurs as well, confirmed by assessing chondroitin sulfate ABC lyase (ABCase)-generated chondroitin sulfate linkage stubs on the core protein. One of the effects of TGF-beta during embryonic tissue interactions is likely to be the enhanced synthesis of chondroitin sulfate chains on this cell surface proteoglycan.     

Visualization of the large heparan sulfate proteoglycan from basement membrane

Kleinschmidt spreading, negative staining, and rotary shadowing were used to examine the large form of (basement membrane) heparan sulfate proteoglycan in the electron microscope. Heparan sulfate proteoglycan was visualized as consisting of two parts: the core protein and, emerging from one end of the core protein, the glycosaminoglycan side chains. The core protein usually appeared as an S-shaped rod with about six globules along its length. Similar characteristics were observed in preparations of core protein in which the side chains had been removed by heparitinase treatment ("400-kDa core") as well as in a 200-kDa trypsin fragment ("P200") derived from one end of the core protein. The core protein was sensitive to lyophilization and apparently also to the method of examination, being condensed following Kleinschmidt spreading (length means = 52 nm) and extended following negative staining (length means = 83 nm) or rotary shadowing (length means = 87 nm; 400-kDa core length means = 80 nm; P200 length means = 44 nm). Two or three glycosaminoglycan side chains (length means = 146 +/- 53 nm) were attached to one end of the core protein. The side chains often appeared tangled or to merge together as one. Thus, the large heparan sulfate proteoglycan from basement membrane is an asymmetrical molecule with a core protein containing globular domains and terminally attached side chains. This structure is in keeping with that previously predicted by enzymatic digestions and with the proposed orientation in basement membranes, i.e., the core protein bound in the lamina densa and the heparan sulfate side chains in the lamina lucida arranged along the surface of the basement membranes.     

Expression of collagen XVIII and localization of its glycosaminoglycan attachment sites

Collagen XVIII is the only currently known collagen that carries heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycan side chains. The number and location of the glycosaminoglycan attachment sites in the core protein were determined by eukaryotic expression of full-length chick collagen XVIII and site-directed mutagenesis. Three Ser-Gly consensus sequences carrying glycosaminoglycan side chains were detected in the middle and N-terminal part of the core protein. One of the Ser-Gly consensus sequences carried a heparan sulfate side chain, and the remaining two had mixed chondroitin and heparan sulfate side chains; thus, recombinant collagen XVIII was a hybrid of heparan sulfate and chondroitin proteoglycan. In contrast, collagen XVIII from all chick tissues so far assayed have exclusively heparan sulfate side chains, indicating that the posttranslational modification of proteins expressed in vitro is not entirely identical to the processing that occurs in a living embryo. Incubating the various mutated collagen XVIIIs with retinal basement membranes showed that the heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycan side chains mediate the binding of collagen XVIII to basement membranes.     

Identification of the precursor protein for the heparan sulfate proteoglycan of human colon carcinoma cells and its post-translational modifications

Human colon carcinoma cells synthesize a high-molecular-weight heparan sulfate proteoglycan which is localized at the cell surface. In this study we have performed a series of immunoprecipitation and pulse-chase experiments associated with various pharmacological agents that interfere with the synthesis and post-translational modification of the proteoglycan. We demonstrate that colon carcinoma cells synthesize the heparan sulfate proteoglycan from a 400-kDa precursor protein that is immunologically related to the Engelbreth-Holm-Swarm (EHS) tumor cell proteoglycan. The cells contain a large pool of precursor protein with a half-life of about 75 min. Most of the precursor protein receives heparan sulfate side chains and is then transported to the cell surface and released into the medium. A portion of the precursor pool, however, does not receive heparan sulfate chains but is secreted into the medium. The glycosylation and subsequent secretion of the 400-kDa precursor protein was inhibited by NH4Cl and even more by monensin, indicating that the transit of precursor from the rough endoplasmic reticulum to the cell surface occurred through the Golgi complex and acidic compartments. The existence of a sizable pool of precursor protein was confirmed by additional experiments using cycloheximide and xyloside. These experiments showed that the half-life of the precursor protein was also 75 min and that stimulation of heparan sulfate synthesis by xyloside was greatly enhanced (about 12-fold) after new protein core synthesis was blocked by cycloheximide. Although the structural models proposed for the EHS and colon carcinoma heparan sulfate proteoglycans differ, the observation that they are derived from a precursor protein with dimensional and immunological similarities suggests that they may be genetically related.     

Effect of beta-D-xyloside on the glomerular proteoglycans. I. Biochemical studies

The effect of p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-xylopyranoside on glomerular extracellular matrices (glomerular basement membrane and mesangial matrix) proteoglycans was studied. The proteoglycans of rat kidneys were labeled with [35S]sulfate in the presence or absence of beta- xyloside (2.5 mM) by using an isolated organ perfusion system. The proteoglycans from the glomeruli and perfusion medium were isolated and characterized by Sepharose CL-6B chromatography and by their behavior in CsCl density gradients. With xyloside treatment there was a twofold decrease in 35S-labeled macromolecules in the tissues but a twofold increase in those recovered in the medium as compared with the control. The labeled proteoglycans extracted from control kidneys eluted as a single peak with Kav = 0.25 (Mr = approximately 130,000), and approximately 95% of the radioactivity was associated with heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HS-PG), the remainder with chondroitin (or dermatan) sulfate proteoglycan (CS-PG). In the xyloside-treated kidneys, the proteoglycans extracted from the tissue eluted as two peaks, Kav = 0.25 (Mr = approximately 130,000) and 0.41 (Mr = approximately 46,000), which contained approximately 40 and approximately 60% of the total radioactivity, respectively. The first peak contained mostly the HS-PG (approximately 90%) while the second peak had a mixture of HS-PG (approximately 70%) and CS-PG (approximately 30%). In controls, approximately 90% of the radioactivity, mostly HS-PG, was confined to high density fractions of a CsCl density gradient. In contrast, in xyloside experiments, both HS- PG and CS-PG were distributed in variable proportions throughout the gradient. The incorporated 35S activity in the medium of xyloside- treated kidneys was twice that of the controls and had three to four times the amount of free chondroitin (or dermatan) sulfate glycosaminoglycan chains. The data suggest that beta-xyloside inhibits the addition of de novo synthesized glycosaminoglycan chains onto the core protein of proteoglycans and at the same time stimulates the synthesis of chondroitin or dermatan sulfate chains which are mainly discharged into the perfusion medium.     

Glomerular basement membrane proteoglycans are derived from a large precursor

The basement membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan produced by the Englebreth-Holm-Swarm (EHS) tumor and by glomeruli were compared by immunological methods. Antibodies to the EHS proteoglycan immunoprecipitated a single precursor protein (Mr = 400,000) from [35S]methionine-pulsed glomeruli, the same size produced by EHS cells. These antibodies detected both heparan sulfate proteoglycans and glycoproteins in extracts of unlabeled glomeruli and glomerular basement membrane. The proteoglycans contained core proteins of varying size (Mr = 150,000 to 400,000) with a Mr = 250,000 species being predominant. The glycoproteins are fragments of the core protein which lack heparan sulfate side chains. Antibodies to glomerular basement membrane proteoglycan immunoprecipitated the precursor protein (Mr = 400,000) synthesized by EHS cells and also reacted with most of the proteolytic fragments of the EHS proteoglycan. This antibody did not, however, react with the P44 fragment, a peptide situated at one end of the EHS proteoglycan core protein. These data suggest that the glomerular basement membrane proteoglycan is synthesized from a large precursor protein which undergoes specific proteolytic processing.     

The cell surface proteoglycan from mouse mammary epithelial cells bears chondroitin sulfate and heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans

The cell surface proteoglycan fraction isolated by mild trypsin treatment of NMuMG mouse mammary epithelial cells contains largely heparan sulfate, but also 15-24% chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycans. We conclude that this fraction contains a unique hybrid proteoglycan bearing both heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycans because (i) the proteoglycan behaves as a single species by sizing, ion exchange and collagen affinity chromatography, and by isopycnic centrifugation, even in the presence of 8 M urea or 4 M guanidine hydrochloride, (ii) the behavior of the chondroitin sulfate in these separation techniques is affected by heparan sulfate-specific probes and vice versa, and (iii) proteoglycan core protein bearing both heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate is recognized by a single monoclonal antibody. Removal of both types of glycosaminoglycan reduces the proteoglycan to a core protein of approximately 53 kDa. The proteoglycan fraction is heterogeneous in size, largely due to a variable number and/or length of the glycosaminoglycan chains. We estimate that one or two chondroitin sulfate chains (modal Mr of 17,000) exist on the proteoglycan for every four heparan sulfate chains (modal Mr of 36,000). Synthesis of these chains is reportedly initiated on an identical trisaccharide that links the chains to the same amino acid residues on the core protein. Therefore, some regulatory information, perhaps residing in the amino acid sequence of the core protein, must determine the type of chain synthesized at any given linkage site. Post-translational addition of these glycosaminoglycans to the protein may provide information affecting its ultimate localization. It is likely that the protein is directed to specific sites on the cell surface because of the ability of the glycosaminoglycans to recognize and bind extracellular components.     

Isolation of two forms of basement membrane proteoglycans

Sequential extractions of the basement membrane producing Engelbreth-Holm-Swarm tumor yielded heparan sulfate proteoglycans with different size core proteins, but the same size heparan sulfate side chains. Saline, a nondenaturing solvent, extracted a small high density proteoglycan with a heterodisperse core protein of Mr = 95,000-130,000 whereas subsequent extraction with 7 M urea, a denaturing solvent, removed a large, low density proteoglycan with a Mr = 350,000-400,000 protein core. The denaturing conditions required for extraction of the large proteoglycan suggest that it interacts strongly with other basement membrane components. Antibodies to these proteoglycans cross-react with both proteoglycans, but the large proteoglycan has additional antigenic sites not present on the small proteoglycan. These proteoglycans may be derived from the same or similar gene products.     

Structure of low density heparan sulfate proteoglycan isolated from a mouse tumor basement membrane

A large heparan sulfate proteoglycan of low buoyant density (p = 1.32 to 1.40 g/cm3 in 6 M-guanidine.HCl) was extracted from a tumor basement membrane with denaturing solvents and purified by chromatography and CsCl gradient centrifugation. Chemical, immunological, physical and electron microscopical analyses have demonstrated a high degree of purity and have allowed us to propose a structural model for this proteoglycan. It is composed of an 80 nm long protein core formed from a single polypeptide chain (Mr about 500,000) with intrachain disulfide bonds. This core is folded into a row of six globular domains of variable size as shown by electron microscopy after rotary shadowing and negative staining. A multidomain structure was confirmed by protease digestion experiments that allowed the isolation of a single heparan sulfate-containing peptide segment representing less than 5% of the total mass of the protein core. Electron microscopy has visualized generally three heparan sulfate chains in each molecule close to each other at one pole of the protein core. The molecular mass and length (100 to 170 nm) of the heparan sulfate chains were found to vary consistently between different preparations. The mass per length ratio (350 nm-1) indicated an extended conformation for the heparan sulfate side-chains. These structural features are distinctly different from those of the high density proteoglycan, suggesting that both forms of basement membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan are genetically distinct and not derived from a common precursor.     

Secretion of proteoglycans by chondrocytes. Influence of colchicine, cytochalasin B, and beta-D-xyloside.

Chondrocytes obtained from epiphyseal cartilage of fetal guinea pigs or ear cartilage of young rabbits were cultured in monolayer. The influence of colchicine, cytochalasin B, and p-nitrophenyl-β-d-xylopyranoside on secretion of proteoglycans was investigated. Radioactive sulfate was used as a precursor. As observed previously in other systems, β-d-xylosides initiated the synthesis of free chondroitin sulfate chains, competing with the endogenous proteoglycan core protein acceptor. The molecular weights of the chondroitin sulfate chains synthesized both on the xyloside and on the core-protein acceptor in maximally stimulated cells were similar and significantly lower than in proteoglycans synthesized in the absence of xyloside. The size of the chondroitin sulfate chains synthesized on the xyloside was inversely related to the concentration of this compound. This finding suggests that the chain length is dependent on the ratio between available acceptor and chain-lengthening enzymes or precursors. Cytochalasin B, a microfilament-modifying agent, inhibited proteoglycan synthesis, without any effect on secretion. Cells treated with cytochalasin B could be stimulated with β-d-xyloside to synthesize free chondroitin sulfate chains to the same relative degree as cells with intact microfilaments. Colchicine, an antimicrotubular agent, partially inhibited synthesis and secretion of proteoglycan. However, cells treated with colchicine could be stimulated with β-d-xyloside to synthesize and secrete free chondroitin sulfate chains to about the same relative degree as cells with intact microtubules. The data suggest that microtubules may have a facilitatory rather than an obligatory role in the secretion of proteoglycans and that at least part of the effect of colchicine is located at or after the site of glycosaminoglycan synthesis.     

Mouse mammary epithelial cells produce basement membrane and cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans containing distinct core proteins

Cultured mouse mammary (NMuMG) cells produce heparan sulfate-rich proteoglycans that are found at the cell surface, in the culture medium, and beneath the monolayer. The cell surface proteoglycan consists of a lipophilic membrane-associated domain and an extracellular domain, or ectodomain, that contains both heparan and chondroitin sulfate chains. During culture, the cells release into the medium a soluble proteoglycan that is indistinguishable from the ectodomain released from the cells by trypsin treatment. This medium ectodomain was isolated, purified, and used as an antigen to prepare an affinity-purified serum antibody from rabbits. The antibody recognizes polypeptide determinants on the core protein of the ectodomain of the cell surface proteoglycan. The reactivity of this antibody was compared with that of a serum antibody (BM-1) directed against the low density basement membrane proteoglycan of the Englebarth-Holm-Swarm tumor (Hassell, J. R., W. C. Leyshon, S. R. Ledbetter, B. Tyree, S. Suzuki, M. Kato, K. Kimata, and H. Kleinman. 1985. J. Biol. Chem. 250:8098-8105). The BM-1 antibody recognized a large, low density heparan sulfate-rich proteoglycan in the cells and in the basal extracellular materials beneath the monolayer where it accumulated in patchy deposits. The affinity-purified anti-ectodomain antibody recognized the cell surface proteoglycan on the cells, where it is seen on apical cell surfaces in subconfluent cultures and in fine filamentous arrays at the basal cell surface in confluent cultures, but detected no proteoglycan in the basal extracellular materials beneath the monolayer. The amino acid composition of the purified medium ectodomain was substantially different from that reported for the basement membrane proteoglycan. Thus, NMuMG cells produce at least two heparan sulfate-rich proteoglycans that contain distinct core proteins, a cell surface proteoglycan, and a basement membrane proteoglycan. In newborn mouse skin, these proteoglycans localize to distinct sites; the basement membrane proteoglycan is seen solely at the dermal-epidermal boundary and the cell surface proteoglycan is seen solely at the surfaces of keratinocytes in the basal, spinous, and granular cell layers. These results suggest that although heparan sulfate-rich proteoglycans may have similar glycosaminoglycan chains, they are sorted by the epithelial cells to different sites on the basis of differences in their core proteins.     

Removal of Heparan Sulfate Chains Halted Epithelial Branching Morphogenesis of the Developing Mouse Submandibular Gland in vitro

The physiological function of heparan sulfate chains in the mouse embryonic submandibular gland was studied by the use of heparitinases purified from Flavobacteriu heparinum . Heparitinase I, which catalyzes the cleavage of specific glycosaminidic linkages adjacent to non-or monosulfated disaccharides of heparan sulfate chains, in the culture medium of the mid and late 12-day gland inhibited the branch-initiation and changed their round epithelial shape to elongated one, together with a concommitant reduction in lobular growth. [³H]Thymidine incorporation experiments indicated that heparitinase I treatment blocked 24% of the DNA synthesis compared with controls. Analysis of ³⁵S-inorganic sulfate labeled glycosaminoglycans extracted from cultured rudiments revealed that the glands with heparitinase I contained no heparan sulfate, while in the glands without the enzyme more than 20% of total glycosaminoglycans was heparan sulfate.
The heparitinase effect on morphogenesis was mimicked by the addition of heparan sulfate (1 mg ml⁻¹) or heparin (75 μg ml⁻¹), but not by chondroitin sulfate (1 mg ml⁻¹) in the culture medium. Transmission electron microscopic study indicated that at the epithelial-mesenchymal interface close contacts between the fibroblast and epithelial cells were much fewer in heparitinase-treated glands than in controls. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that the core protein of basement membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan and type IV collagen accumulated abnormally inside the epithelial lobules of glands cultured with heparitinase I. These results strongly suggested that glycosaminoglycan chains of heparan sulfate or heparin is involved in the epithelial morphogenesis of the mouse embryonic submandibular gland.     

Isolation and partial characterization of heparan sulphate proteoglycan from the human glomerular basement membrane.

Heparan sulphate proteoglycan was solubilized from human glomerular basement membranes by guanidine extraction and purified by ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration. The yield of proteoglycan was approx. 2 mg/g of basement membrane. The glycoconjugate had an apparent molecular mass of 200-400 kDa and consisted of about 75% protein and 25% heparan sulphate. The amino acid composition was characterized by a high content of glycine, proline, alanine and glutamic acid. Hydrolysis with trifluoromethanesulphonic acid yielded core proteins of 160 and 110 kDa (and minor bands of 90 and 60 kDa). Alkaline NaBH4 treatment of the proteoglycan released heparan sulphate chains with an average molecular mass of 18 kDa. HNO2 oxidation of these chains yielded oligosaccharides of about 5 kDa, whereas heparitinase digestion resulted in a more complete degradation. The data suggest a clustering of N-sulphate groups in the peripheral regions of the glycosaminoglycan chains. A polyclonal antiserum raised against the intact proteoglycan showed reactivity against the core protein. It stained all basement membranes in an intense linear fashion in immunohistochemical studies on frozen kidney sections from man and various mammalian species.     

Heparin releasable and nonreleasable forms of heparan sulfate proteoglycan are found on the surfaces of cultured porcine aortic endothelial cells

Evidence suggests that endothelial cell layer heparan sulfate proteoglycans include a variety of different sized molecules which most likely contain different protein cores. In the present report, approximately half of endothelial cell surface associated heparan sulfate proteoglycan is shown to be releasable with soluble heparin. The remaining cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycan, as well as extracellular matrix heparan sulfate proteoglycan, cannot be removed from the cells with heparin. The heparin nonreleasable cell surface proteoglycan can be released by membrane disrupting agents and is able to intercalate into liposomes. When the heparin releasable and nonreleasable cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans are compared, differences in proteoglycan size are also evident. Furthermore, the intact heparin releasable heparan sulfate proteoglycan is closer in size to proteoglycans isolated from the extracellular matrix and from growth medium than to that which is heparin nonreleasable. These data indicate that cultured porcine aortic endothelial cells contain at least two distinct types of cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans, one of which appears to be associated with the cells through its glycosaminoglycan chains. The other (which is more tightly associated) is probably linked via a membrane intercalated protein core.Abbreviations ECM extracellular matrix - HSPG heparan sulfate proteoglycan - PAE porcine aortic endothelial - PBS phosphate buffered saline     

Uncoupling of chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycan synthesis by brefeldin A

Brefeldin A has dramatic, well-documented, effects on the structural and functional organization of the Golgi complex. We have examined the effects of brefeldin A (BFA) on the Golgi-localized synthesis and addition of chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycan carbohydrate side chains. BFA caused a dose-dependent inhibition of chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycan elongation and sulfation onto the core proteins of the melanoma-associated proteoglycan and the major histocompatibility complex class II-associated invariant chain. In the presence of BFA, the melanoma proteoglycan core protein was retained in the ER but still acquired complex, sialylated, N-linked oligosaccharides, as measured by digestion with endoglycosidase H and neuraminidase. The initiation of glycosaminoglycan synthesis was not affected by BFA, as shown by the incorporation of [6-3H]galactose into a protein-carbohydrate linkage region that was sensitive to beta-elimination. The ability of cells to use an exogenous acceptor, p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-xyloside, to elongate and sulfate core protein-free glycosaminoglycans, was completely inhibited by BFA. The effects of BFA were completely reversible in the absence of new protein synthesis. These experiments indicate that BFA effectively uncouples chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycan synthesis by segregating initiation reactions from elongation and sulfation events. Our findings support the proposal that glycosaminoglycan elongation and sulfation reactions are associated with the trans-Golgi network, a BFA-resistant, Golgi subcompartment.     

Structural characterization of proteoheparan sulfate isolated from plasma membranes of an ascites hepatoma,AH 66

A proteoglycan isolated from plasma membranes of an ascites hepatoma, AH 66, was characterized structurally. The glycosaminoglycan was obtained by alkali treatment and was identified as heparan sulfate. It was essentially the only type of carbohydrate chain attached to the core protein. The identification was based on chemical analysis, electrophoresis, and digestibility with heparitinase from Flavobacterium heparinum. Analysis of neutral sugars of the proteoglycan by mass fragmentography indicated the presence of xylose and galactose which should be involved in the linkage region between a heparan sulfate chain and the core protein. The weight-average molecular weights of the proteoglycan and its heparan sulfate chain were determined to be 71,000 and 21,000, respectively, by meniscus depletion equilibrium centrifugation. The latter value was in good agreement with those obtained by chemical analysis and by gel filtration. From these values for molecular weight and the protein content of the proteoglycan (10.6%), the molecular weight of the core protein was estimated to be 7500. On the basis of these molecular parameters, it was proposed that three heparan sulfate chains on average are linked to the core protein.     

Reduced synthesis of basement membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice

In diabetes, certain basement membranes become thicker yet more porous than normal. To identify possible changes in the basement membrane, we have grown the Engelbreth-Holm-Swarm tumor, a tissue that produces quantities of basement membrane in normal mice and in streptozotocin-treated, insulin-deficient, diabetic mice. The level of laminin, a basement membrane-specific glycoprotein, and the level of total protein were slightly elevated in the diabetic tissue. In contrast, the level of the basement membrane specific heparan sulfate proteoglycan was only 20% of control. The synthesis of this proteoglycan was also reduced in the diabetic animals, while the synthesis of other proteoglycans by tissues such as cartilage was normal. The synthesis of the heparan sulfate proteoglycan in diabetic animals was inversely related to plasma glucose levels showing an abrupt decrease above the normal range of plasma glucose. Insulin restored synthesis to normal but this required doses of insulin that maintained plasma glucose at normal levels for several hours. Since the heparan sulfate proteoglycan in the basement membrane restricts passage of proteins, its absence could account for the increased porosity of basement membrane in diabetes. A compensatory synthesis of other components could lead to their increased deposition and the accumulation of basement membrane in diabetes.