title: The effect of low sulfate concentrations on the glycosaminoglycan synthesis in anatomically intact articular cartilage of the mouse.
abstract: We have studied the effect of environmental sulfate concentration on the glycosaminoglycan synthesis of anatomically intact patellar cartilage of the mouse in vitro. Incubation of mouse patellae in medium with sulfate concentrations below 0.5 mM resulted in a diminished incorporation of sulfate but in unaltered incorporation of glucosamine. This suggested the synthesis of undersulfated glycosaminoglycans under these conditions. We characterized glycosaminoglycans synthesized at three different sulfate concentrations: a sulfate concentration physiological for the mouse (1.0 mM), a sulfate concentration in the range where sulfate incorporation was strongly diminished (0.1 mM), and an extremely low sulfate concentration (10 nM). Analysis of glycosaminoglycan disaccharides and DEAE anion chromatography of the glycosaminoglycans could not confirm the synthesis of undersulfated glycosaminoglycans at 0.1 mM. The chromatogram of glycosaminoglycans synthesized in medium containing 10 nM showed the presence of a very low sulfated glycosaminoglycan pool not observed at higher medium sulfate concentrations. Intermediately sulfated glycosaminoglycans were also synthesized during incubation with 10 nM sulfate. So, our data indicate that only very low sulfate concentrations in the medium lead to the synthesis of undersulfated glycosaminoglycans and that the sulfation mechanism of murine patellar cartilage chondrocytes does not seem to fit completely in an "all-or-nothing" pattern.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, St. Radboud Hospital, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: van der Kraan
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: de Vries
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Vitters
authors.forename: W B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: van den Berg
authors.forename: L B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: van de Putte
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006821:Hyaluronoglucosaminidase / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013431:Sulfates / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D006025:Glycosaminoglycans; D013431:Sulfates; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates; D006821:Hyaluronoglucosaminidase