Enzymatic lysis of sulfated glycosaminoglycans reduces the electrophoretic mobility of vascular endothelial cells.

The main purpose of this work was to identify the macromolecules carrying the surface charge of endothelial cells. This was done by measuring changes in cell electrophoretic mobility caused by enzymatic removal of glycocalyx components. Endothelial cells were removed from the bovine pulmonary artery using nonenzymatic procedures, plated, and identified by immunocytochemical methods and electron microscopy. Cultured cells were suspended in saline and placed in the lumen of a capillary in a Rank Brothers electrophoresis instrument. Voltage was applied between the ends of the capillary, and the velocity acquired by the cells was measured with a microscope. Preincubating the cells in protein-free saline for 1 h reduced the mobility by 25%. This reflects the loss of proteoheparan sulfate from the cell surface. Cell mobility was totally suppressed by exposing the entire cell surface to chondroitin sulfate lyase, but it was only slightly diminished when the enzyme was applied only to the cell side facing the culture medium. A partial decrease in mobility was obtained after enzymatic removal of either heparin, heparan sulfate, or collagen. The results indicate that sulfated glycosaminoglycans are the main carriers of the surface change in vascular endothelial cells. The asymmetrical effect of chondroitinase on the two sides of the cell indicates a distribution polarization for glycosaminoglycans in endothelial cells.