Heterogeneity of proteoglycans extracted before and after collagenase treatment of human articular cartilage. II. Variations in composition with age and tissue source.

Proteoglycans (A1 fractions) were extracted with 4M guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl) from human articular cartilage samples of a wide age range. Distinctions were made between hip and knee, and upper and lower layers. The residues of these extractions were digested with purified collagenase, and a second extraction with 4M GuHCl was performed, which yielded appreciable amounts of proteoglycans. When proteoglycans from second extractions were compared with those from first extractions, the following changes were observed: an increase in chondroitin sulfate; a relative decrease in keratan sulfate; a decrease in protein content; and a decrease in the ratio of chondroitin 6-sulfate to chondroitin 4-sulfate. The same changes were found when nonaggregating proteoglycans were compared with proteoglycan aggregates, when proteoglycans from young cartilage were compared with those from mature cartilage, when proteoglycans from knee cartilage were compared with those from hip cartilage, and when proteoglycans from upper layers of cartilage were compared with those from deeper layers. It is suggested that the differences found between first and second extractions of cartilage, between upper and lower layers of cartilage, and between knee and hip cartilage are caused by variations in the relative amount of nonaggregating proteoglycans and/or variations in proteoglycan size.