Structure and metabolism of sulphated glycosaminoglycans in cultures of human fibroblasts. Structural characteristics of co-polymeric galactosaminoglycans in sequential extracts of fibroblasts during pulse-chase experiments.

1. Human embryonic lung and skin fibroblasts were allowed to incorporate 32SO42- or 35SO42- and D-[1-3H]glucosamine. After removal of the medium the monolayer was subjected to sequential extractions by using EDTA, brief trypsin digestion, extraction with dithiothreitol ofllowed by freeze--thawing and extraction with trichloroacetic acid. The heparan sulphate and galactosaminoglycan contents of the various extracts were estimated after deaminative cleavage of the former component. Heparan sulphate was the major component of the trypsin digest, whereas galactosaminoglycans were the dominant component of other fractions. 2. Galactosaminoglycans of the various fractions were subjected to chemical (periodate oxidation/alkaline elimination) and enzymic (chondroitinase-AC and -ABC, as well as testicular hyaluronidase) degradations. Galactosaminoglycans from the insoluble cell fraction and the dithiothreitol extract contained larger amounts of L-iduronic acid than did those of other fractions. 3. Pulse-chase experiments were performed with and without replating of the cells at the start of the chase period. Radioactive glycans were isolated from the various extracts during the chase period. The half-lives of glycans of the insoluble cell fraction and the dithioreitol extract were shorter (5--8h) than were those of the trypsin digest and the EDTA extract (22h and 11h respectively). After replating of the cells in chase medium, radioactive cell-associated glycans were secreted from the cells and could be recovered in the trypsin digest, the EDTA extract and the medium. Furthermore, 35S/3H ratios of glycans from all these fractions decreased during the chase period. The following conclusions were reached. The insoluble cell fraction contains the synthesis pool and some structural material, whereas the soluble cell fraction is the storage and degradation pool. The dithiothreitol extract appears to contain the immediate precursors of secreted material. The trypsin-released glycans comprise structural components as well as material destined for pinocytosis or secretion into the medium. The EDTA extract is considered to consist of glycans en route to the medium. 4. The two presumptive precursor pools were preferentially depleted of L-iduronic acid-rich galactosaminoglycans during the chase. Glycans recovered from the trypsin digest, the EDTA extract and the medium during the chase contained larger amounts of periodate-resistant uronic acid residues (D-glucuronic acid and/or L-iduronic acid O-sulphate) than did their precursors. It is proposed that polymer-level modifications of secreted glycans are partly responsible for the results.