title: The C. elegans hyaluronidase: a developmentally significant enzyme with chondroitin-degrading activity at both acidic and neutral pH.
abstract: Mammalian hyaluronidases degrade hyaluronan and some structurally related glycosaminoglycans. We generated a deletion mutant in the Caenorhabditis elegans orthologue of mammalian hyaluronidase, hya-1. Mutant animals are viable and grossly normal, but exhibit defects in vulval morphogenesis and egg-laying and showed increased staining with alcian blue, consistent with an accumulation of glycosaminoglycan. A hya-1::GFP reporter was expressed in a restricted pattern in somatic tissues of the animal with strongest expression in the intestine, the PLM sensory neurons and the vulva. Total protein extracts from wild-type animals exhibited chondroitin-degrading but not hyaluronan-degrading activity. Chondroitinase activities were observed at both neutral and acidic pH conditions while both neutral and acidic activities were absent in extracts from hya-1 mutant strains. We also evaluated the function of oga-1, which encodes the C. elegans orthologue of MGEA-5, a protein with hyaluronan-degrading activity in vitro. oga-1 is expressed in muscles, vulval cells and the scavenger-like coelomocytes. An oga-1 mutant strain exhibited egg-laying and vulval defects similar to those of hya-1; chondroitinase activity was unaffected in this mutant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chatel
authors.forename: Rick
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hemming
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hobert
authors.forename: Marvin R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Natowicz
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Triggs-Raine
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Merz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D002807:Chondroitin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006821:Hyaluronoglucosaminidase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000235:genetics; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D009154:Mutation; D010058:Oviposition / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D019076:Transgenes; D014844:Vulva / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D006025:Glycosaminoglycans; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D002807:Chondroitin; D006821:Hyaluronoglucosaminidase