Biosynthesis of chondroitin sulfate. Microsomal acceptors of sulfate, glucuronic acid, and N-acetylgalactosamine

High-resolution magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy of human osteoarthritic cartilage

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease of the joints and results in changes in the biochemical composition of cartilage. Previous studies have been undertaken that have used high-resolution NMR spectroscopy to study the biochemical composition of porcine, canine and bovine cartilage. In the present study, high-resolution magical angle spinning (HR-MAS) NMR spectroscopy at 11.7 T has been used to characterize metabolites and detect differences in the spectral signature of human knee articular cartilage from non-OA healthy cadaver knees and samples acquired from severe OA patients at the time of total knee replacement surgery. A statistically significant difference in the alanine (1.47 p.p.m.), N-acetyl (2.04 p.p.m.), choline (3.25 p.p.m.) and glycine (3.55 p.p.m.) metabolite levels was observed between healthy and OA specimens. The results of the present study indicate that a decrease in the intensity of N-acetyl resonance occurs in the later stages of OA. A positive correlation of the N-acetyl levels as measured by (1)H HR-MAS NMR spectroscopy with the total proteoglycan content in the same cartilage specimens as measured by the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) assay was observed. This indicates that N-acetyl can serve as an important bio-marker of OA disease progression. A decrease in the alanine concentration in OA may be attributed to the degradation of the collagen framework with disease progression and eventual loss of the degradation products that are transported from cartilage into the synovial cavity.

Glycosaminoglycan metabolism before molecular biology: reminiscences of our early work

This article concerns personal reminiscences of research on proteoglycans accomplished by Jeremiah Silbert and his co-investigators over a 25-30 year period beginning in 1961. Radiolabeled substrates were prepared and incubated with subcellular particles from mast cells and cartilage to determine pathways and organization of heparin and chondroitin glycosaminoglycan formation together with sulfation. Microsomal/Golgi fractions were examined for localization and organization of synthesis. Cell surface heparan sulfate and chondroitin were examined for preliminary information regarding potential function, and techniques were developed to alter sulfation processes.

Synthesis and sorting of proteoglycans

Proteoglycans are widely expressed in animal cells. Interactions between negatively charged glycosaminoglycan chains and molecules such as growth factors are essential for differentiation of cells during development and maintenance of tissue organisation. We propose that glycosaminoglycan chains play a role in targeting of proteoglycans to their proper cellular or extracellular location. The variability seen in glycosaminoglycan chain structure from cell type to cell type, which is acquired by use of particular Ser-Gly sites in the protein core, might therefore be important for post-synthesis sorting. This links regulation of glycosaminoglycan synthesis to the post-Golgi fate of proteoglycans.

Biosynthesis of the escherichia coli K4 capsule polysaccharide. A parallel system for studies of glycosyltransferases in chondroitin formation

Escherichia coli K4 bacteria synthesize a capsule polysaccharide (GalNAc-GlcA(fructose))n with the carbohydrate backbone identical to chondroitin. GlcA- and GalNAc-transferase activities from the bacterial membrane were assayed with acceptors derived from the capsule polysaccharide and radiolabeled UDP-[14C]GlcA and UDP-[3H]GalNAc, respectively. It was shown that defructosylated oligosaccharides (chondroitin) could serve as substrates for both the GlcA- and the GalNAc-transferases. The radiolabeled products were completely degraded with chondroitinase AC; the [14C]GlcA unit could be removed by beta-D-glucuronidase, and the [3H]GalNAc could be removed by beta-N-acetylhexosaminidase. A fructosylated oligosaccharide acceptor tested for GlcA-transferase activity was found to be inactive. These results indicate that the chain elongation reaction of the K4 polysaccharide proceeds in the same way as the polymerization of the chondroitin chain, by the addition of the monosaccharide units one by one to the nonreducing end of the polymer. This makes the biosynthesis of the K4 polysaccharide an interesting parallel system for studies of chondroitin sulfate biosynthesis. In the biosynthesis of capsule polysaccharides from E. coli, a similar mechanism has earlier been demonstrated for polysialic acid (NeuNAc)n (Rohr, T. E., and Troy, F. A. (1980) J. Biol. Chem. 255, 2332-2342) and for the K5 polysaccharide (GlcAbeta1-4GlcNAcalpha1-4)n (Lidholt, K., Fjelstad, M., Jann, K., and Lindahl, U. (1994) Carbohydr. Res. 255, 87-101). In contrast, chain elongation of hyaluronan (GlcAbeta1-3GlcNAcbeta1-4)n is claimed to occur at the reducing end (Prehm, P. (1983) Biochem. J. 211, 181-189).

Organization of glycosaminoglycan sulfation in the biosynthesis of proteochondroitin sulfate and proteodermatan sulfate

Although the intermediates for sulfation of proteochondroitin and proteodermatan have been known for several decades, organizational aspects of this formation have not been clearly defined. Work in several laboratories, including our own, have indicated a pattern which strongly suggests that sulfation ordinarily takes place together with glycosaminoglycan polymerization in the same Golgi sites, and with close relationship to aspects of polymer elongation, polymer modification and polymer termination. The organization of sulfation together with polymerization may be a major factor controlling the location, type, and degree of sulfation, which in turn may direct specific functions of these proteoglycans.

Sulphation of proteochondroitin and 4-methylumbelliferyl beta-D-xyloside-chondroitin formed by mouse mastocytoma cells cultured in sulphate-deficient medium

Mouse mastocytoma cells were cultured in medium containing [3H]GlcN and concentrations of [35S]sulphate varying from 0.01 to 0.5 mM. Intracellular [35S]sulphate incorporation increased severalfold from the lowest concentrations, reaching a maximum at 0.1-0.2 mM, whereas incorporation of [3H]hexosamine remained constant at all sulphate concentrations. Proteo[3H]-chondroitin [35S]sulphate was isolated and incubated with chondroitin ABC lyase, yielding 35S-labelled and/or 3H-labelled delta Di-0S and delta Di-4S disaccharide products. The increasing percentage of delta Di-4S was consistent with the increasing sulphate incorporation at each higher [35S]sulphate concentration. Examination of proteochondroitin [35S]sulphate size by Sepharose CL-6B chromatography indicated a range consistent with various numbers of glycosaminoglycan chains on the protease-resistant serglycin core protein. Alkali-cleaved chondroitin [35S]sulphate products indicated similar size distributions at all sulphate concentrations with no indication of preferential sulphation being related to smaller or larger size. DEAE-cellulose chromatography of [3H]chondroitin [35S]sulphate glycosaminoglycans indicated a random undersulphation as [35S]sulphate concentration was lowered. Addition of 4-methylumbelliferyl beta-D-xyloside to the cultures resulted in a 2-2.5-fold stimulation of [3H]chondroitin [35S]sulphate synthesis with formation of beta-xyloside-[3H]chondroitin [35S]sulphate which was much smaller, as estimated by Sepharose CL-6B chromatography, than the decreased amount of [3H]chondroitin [35S]sulphate derived from proteo[3H]chondroitin [35S]sulphate. Much higher concentrations of sulphate were necessary to produce sulphation of the beta-xyloside-[3H]chondroitin comparable with that of proteo[3H]-chondroitin, as indicated by chondroitin ABC lyase products and DEAE-cellulose chromatography. The specific radioactivities of the [3H]GalN in the proteo[3H]chondroitin [35S]sulphate and beta-xyloside-[3H]chondroitin [35S]sulphate were calculated from the 3H and 35S c.p.m. of isolated dual-labelled delta Di-4S from each, and indicated that the presence of the beta-xyloside resulted in a dilution of the [3H]GlcN by endogenous GlcN that was 4 times higher than that of cultures lacking the beta-xyloside. The higher sulphate concentrations needed for sulphation of beta-xyloside-chondroitin suggests that the membrane-bound nature of the proteochondroitin acceptor in juxtaposition to a chondroitin sulphate-synthesizing enzyme complex effectively reduces the apparent Km for adenosine 3'-phosphate 5'-phosphosulphate.

Formation of two species of nascent proteochondroitin in separate loci of a microsomal preparation from chick-embryo epiphyseal cartilage

The potential relationship of an intact membrane organization to the synthesis of chondroitin was examined before and after modification of a chick-embryo cartilage microsomal system with the non-ionic detergent Triton X-100. Incubations with labelled UDP-GlcA and UDP-GalNAc indicated that Triton X-100 had little effect on the amount of chondroitin synthesized to form one species of large proteochondroitin (Type I). However, Triton X-100 had a marked stimulatory effect on the formation of another smaller species of proteochondroitin (Type II). Presence of this detergent during chondroitin polymerization also resulted in chains that were slightly smaller. Neither of the two proteochondroitin species were collagenase-sensitive, nor did they contain dermatan-like regions. Thus in these respects they were unlike the small proteochondroitins (PG-Lb or PG-Lt) that have been found in chick-embryo cartilage. They also differed greatly in size from these small proteoglycans as well as from the large aggregatable proteochondroitin (PG-H) from the same source. Synthesis of the larger (Type I) proteochondroitin species was not affected by prior treatment of the microsomes with chondroitin ABC lyase at concentrations sufficient for elimination of synthesis of most of the smaller (Type II) proteochondroitin species. Use of chondroitin ABC lyase subsequent to synthesis of the chondroitin also resulted in preferential degradation of the smaller species. Thus there were differences in formation and limitation in access of the chondroitin ABC lyase to the two species, consistent with other differences described previously. These results indicate that there are separate loci within the microsomal membranes for synthesis of the two species.

Glycosyl transferases in chondroitin sulphate biosynthesis. Effect of acceptor structure on activity

The D-glucuronosyl (GlcA)- and N-acetyl-D-galactosaminyl (GalNAc)-transferases involved in chondroitin sulphate biosynthesis were studied in a microsomal preparation from chick-embryo chondrocytes. Transfer of GlcA and GalNAc from their UDP derivatives to 3H-labelled oligosaccharides prepared from chondroitin sulphate and hyaluronic acid was assayed by h.p.l.c. of the reaction mixture. Conditions required for maximal activities of the two enzymes were remarkably similar. Activities were stimulated 3.5-6-fold by neutral detergents. Both enzymes were completely inhibited by EDTA and maximally stimulated by MnCl2 or CoCl2. MgCl2 neither stimulated nor inhibited. The GlcA transferase showed a sharp pH optimum between pH5 and 6, whereas the GalNAc transferase gave a broad optimum from pH 5 to 8. At pH 7 under optimal conditions, the GalNAc transferase gave a velocity that was twice that of the GlcA transferase. Oligosaccharides prepared from chondroitin 4-sulphate and hyaluronic acid were almost inactive as acceptors for both enzymes, whereas oligosaccharides from chondroitin 6-sulphate and chondroitin gave similar rates that were 70-80-fold higher than those observed with the endogenous acceptors. Oligosaccharide acceptors with degrees of polymerization of 6 or higher gave similar Km and Vmax. values, but the smaller oligosaccharides were less effective acceptors. These results are discussed in terms of the implications for regulation of the overall rates of the chain-elongation fractions in chondroitin sulphate synthesis in vivo.

Studies on the biosynthesis of cartilage proteoglycan in a model system of cultured chondrocytes from the Swarm rat chondrosarcoma

Biosynthesis of cartilage proteoglycan was examined in a model system of cultured chondrocytes from a transplantable rat chondrosarcoma. Extensive modification with the addition of chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycan, N-linked oligosaccharide, and O-linked oligosaccharide is required to convert a newly synthesized core protein precursor into a proteoglycan. Kinetic analyses revealed the presence of a large pool of core protein precursor (t 1/2 approximately 90 min) awaiting completion into proteoglycan. The large t 1/2 of this pool allowed kinetic labeling experiments with a variety of radioactive precursors to distinguish between early biosynthetic events associated primarily with the rough endoplasmic reticulum from late events associated primarily with the Golgi apparatus. The results of a series of experiments indicated that the addition of N-linked oligosaccharide chains occurs early in the biosynthetic process in association with the rough endoplasmic reticulum, whereas the initiation and completion of O-linked oligosaccharides occurs much later, at about the same time as chondroitin sulfate synthesis. This also indicated that keratan sulfate chains, when present in the completed molecule, are added in the Golgi apparatus, as they are probably built on oligosaccharide primers closely related to the O-oligosaccharide chains. Furthermore, when 3H-glucose was used as the precursor, the entry of label into xylose, the linkage sugar between the core protein and the chondroitin sulfate chain, was found to occur within 5 min of the entry of label into galactose and galactosamine in the remainder of the chondroitin sulfate chain. This indicated that the initiation and completion of the chondroitin sulfate chain occurs late in the pathway probably entirely in the Golgi apparatus. Thus, proteoglycan synthesis can be described as occurring in two stages in this system, translation and N-glycosylation of a core protein precursor which has a long half-life in the rough endoplasmic reticulum, followed by extensive rapid modification in the Golgi complex in which the majority of glycosaminoglycan and oligosaccharide chains are added to the core protein precursor with subsequent rapid secretion into the extracellular matrix.

The effect of chondroitin sulfate molecular weight and degree of sulfation on the activity of a sulfotransferase from chicken embryo epiphyseal cartilages

The transfer of [35S] sulfate from [35S]PAPS, by means of PAPS: chondroitin sulfate sulfotransferase, to various chondroitin sulfates, with different degrees of sulfation and molecular weights is reported. Analyses by digestion with chondroitin AC and specific 4- or 6-sulfatases indicate that the sulfation occurs only in position 6 of the non-sulfated N-acetyl galactosamine moiety. The 50-70% desulfated chondroitin 4/6-sulfates are two times better sulfate acceptors than totally desulfated chondroitin, and the affinity of the sulfotransferase increases markedly from the octa-to the deca-saccharide. These results suggest that sulfation increases sharply only after the growing polysaccharide contains about 10 sugar residues, in the early stages of polymerization, and that the sulfation of chondroitin sulfate may be a process in which the addition of some sulfate groups facilitates further sulfation.

The control of chondroitin sulphate biosynthesis and its influence on the structure of cartilage proteoglycans

Chondroitin sulphate synthesis on proteoglycans was decreased in rat chondrosarcoma cell cultures in the presence of cycloheximide (0.1-1.0 muM) or p-nitrophenyl beta-D-xyloside (50 microM). In the presence of cycloheximide the proteoglycan monomer was of larger size, the chondroitin sulphate chains were increased in length, but a similar number of chains was attached to each proteoglycan and the size of the core protein was unaltered. In the presence of p-nitrophenyl beta-D-xyloside (50 microM), chondroitin sulphate synthesis was increased (by 60-80%), but the incorporation into proteoglycans was decreased (by 70%). The chondroitin sulphate chains were of shorter length than in control cultured and the number of chains attached to each proteoglycan was decreased. In cultures with cycloheximide or actinomycin D the synthesis of chondroitin sulphate was less inhibited on beta-xyloside than on endogenous proteoglycan. When the rate of chondroitin sulphate synthesis was decreased by lowering the temperature of cultures, the chains synthesized at 22 and 4 degrees C were much longer than at 37 degrees C, but in the presence of p-nitrophenyl beta-D-xyloside the chains were of the same length at all three temperatures. A model of chain elongation is thus proposed in which the rate of chain synthesis is determined by the concentration of xylosyl acceptor and the length of the chains is determined by the ratio of elongation activity to xylosyl-acceptor concentration.

The mode of action of 4-methylumbelliferyl beta-D-xyloside on the synthesis of chondroitin sulphate in embryonic-chicken sternum

1. Embryonic-chicken sterna, incubated in medium containing 0.1mm-4-methylumbelliferyl beta-d-xyloside (4-methylcoumarin 7-beta-d-xyloside), synthesize proteochondroitin sulphate that is significantly undersulphated and shorter than usual [Gibson, Segen & Audhya (1977) Biochem. J.162, 217-233]. 2. Neither the beta-d-galactoside nor the beta-d-glucuronide of 4-methylumbelliferone, nor 4-methylumbelliferone itself, produced the effects. The only metabolites of 4-methylumbelliferone that were detected in cartilages exposed to 4-methylumbelliferyl beta-d-xyloside were unchanged xyloside and chondroitin sulphate covalently attached to 4-methylumbelliferone. 3. Gel filtration of salt extracts of sterna incubated in medium containing the xyloside showed that there were two pools of chondroitin sulphate in the tissue. One pool was identified, on the basis of its elution pattern and the linear kinetics of incorporation of sulphate into it, as proteochondroitin sulphate. Incorporation into the other pool, whose properties suggested that it was methylumbelliferyl-chondroitin sulphate, indicated that it underwent partial turnover. The molecular weight of this chondroitin sulphate was about 19000, and it appeared to be about 70% sulphated. 4. When sterna were incubated in medium containing the xyloside, there was a very large incorporation of sulphate and glucose into glycosaminoglycans that were released into the incubation medium. This contrasts with incubations of sterna in the absence of the xyloside, in which less than 5% of the sulphate incorporated could be recovered from the medium. The glycosaminoglycan released into the medium was 4-methylumbelliferyl-chondroitin sulphate, whose average molecular weight was 7000-8000 and degree of sulphation more than 95%. 5. Incorporation of sulphate into proteochondroitin sulphate was stimulated more than 3-fold by addition of 20% (v/v) human serum and 10nm-l-3,3',5-tri-iodothyronine. Incorporation into methylumbelliferyl-chondroitin sulphate, in either the tissue or the medium, was not significantly altered. 6. The decrease in chain length and degree of sulphation of proteochondroitin sulphate is explained in terms of competition between peptide-linked primers and methylumbelliferone-containing primers at the intracellular sites of polysaccharidechain elongation and sulphation. The implications of the results for the mechanism of stimulation of proteoglycan synthesis by serum factors are discussed.

Biosynthesis of chondroitin sulfate side chains and hyaluronate. Time-course studies with cartilage slices of calf ribs under different conditions

The time course of double labeling with 35SO24- and [3H]glucosamine was followed in a semi-in vitro system of cartilage slices from calf ribs whose chondroitin sulfate peptide pool consists of (A) less than 1% of very short under sulfated side chains of less than 10 disaccharide units length, (B) 3--5% of short under sulfated longer side chains (16 to 25 disaccharide units), (C) 3--5% of short, slightly oversulfated side chains (16--23 dissacharide units, very probably containing some dermatan sulfate), (D) the bulk material (74--82% of total uronate) of longest, slightly undersulfated or equally sulfated side chains (22--42 disaccharide units). After 10 min incubation rapid chain elongation with [3H]glucosamine and prelabeling with 35SO24- of endogenous acceptors are apparent. Chains of type A exhibit highest specific radioactivities. During 30--60 min incubation it is mainly chains of type B that show highest specific radioactivities, after 90 min chains of type C. On the after hand, chains of type D always incorporated the highest total amount of both precursors. Preincubation of slices for 40 min at 37 degres C strongly enhances labeling rates of all types A and B. After 10 min preincubation followed by 35SO24- labeling for 60 min, a decrease of radioactivity of type A and a distinct increase with type B are observed during the post incubation period. After pulse chase experiments type B exhibits highest specific radioactivities. The data make it evident that undersulfated short chondroitin sulfate side chains form very rapidly in a well organised manner and grow, by elongation and proceeding sulfation processes, to longer higher sulfated chains. The labeling of the hyaluronate pool is about half of that of the chondroitin sulfate pool after a lag phase of 10 min. The latter increases linearly after 35--45 min incubation time. However, after preincubation and chase experiments the hyaluronate pool is more highly labeled. The data indicate different precursor pools of both biosynthesis mechanisms, probably located in different cell compartments and/or different cartilage cells.

Biosynthesis of acid mucopolysaccharides by the surviving new born rat skin. I. - Kinetics of the biosynthesis at the polymer level

1) The amounts of individual mucopolysaccharides in the new born rat skin have been estimated and their specific rates of labelling assessed in vitro. Total and percentage amounts of these polymers agree satisfactorily with previously published data. 2) Relative rates of labelling from [U14C]-glucose have been estimated by combining column chromatography separation and electrophoresis on cellulose acetate strips. Specific radioactivities have been measured either with respect to the total uronic acid content of the fractions or with respect to their quantitative staining with Alcian Blue. The two methods agreed satisfactorily. 3) Average biosynthetic rates almost identical for hyaluronic acid and the total sulfated mucopolysaccharides. However, within the latter fraction, heparin + heparan sulfate incorporate [U14C]-glucose about 4 to 5 times more rapidly than the chondroitin sulfates. This result could not be expected from previous data obtained in vivo and is discussed with reference to a possible heterogeneity of the cell material whence the various mucopolysaccharides originate. 4) In the presence of puromycin, labelling of the sulfated mucopolysaccharides stops almost immediately, indicating a stringent requirement for protein primers. Biosynthesis of hyaluronic acid is affected only after preincubation of tissue with puromycin (one hour) and subsequent incubation of two hours with [U14C]-glucose.

Heparan sulfate of skin fibroblasts grown in culture

Primary cultures of normal human skin fibroblasts were examined for glycosaminoglycan content. Heparan sulfate was found in the growth medium of these cells, in fractions obtained by sequential collagenase and trypsin treatments, and in the remaining intact cells. Heparan sulfate was found to be the major sulfated glycosaminoglycan of the trypsin fraction but appeared as a smaller proportion of the collagenase fraction. The heparan sulfate of the growth medium, the collagenase fraction, and the trypsin fraction appeared to be proteoglycan while intracellular material appeared to be mainly free polysaccharide. The collagenase fraction is thought to be representative of "matrix" material produced by the cells, while the trypsin fraction may represent external cell surface material. The trypsin fraction heparan sulfate polysaccharide was relatively homogeneous in size with an average molecular weight of approximately 40,000 relative to a chondroitin sulfate standard. It was also relatively homogeneous in sulfate content, containing an average of 0.8 sulfate groups per disaccharide repeating unit. Approximately 50% of this was N-sulfate.