Metabolism of proteoglycans in rat ovarian granulosa cell culture. Multiple intracellular degradative pathways and the effect of chloroquine.

The metabolism of endogenously labeled proteoglycans was studied in rat ovarian granulosa cell cultures by a series of pulse-chase experiments using [35S]sulfate as a precursor. More than 90% of the newly synthesized proteoglycans are transported to the cell surface (trypsin-accessible compartment) with a median transit time of 13 min. The membrane-bound heparan sulfate-proteoglycan (HS-PG) is lost from the cell surface either by release into the medium (30%, with t1/2 of 4 h) or by internalization (70%, with t1/2 of 4 h). Internalized HS-PG, which does not recycle to the cell surface, is degraded by two major pathways. In pathway 1, 60% of the internalized HS-PG migrates to lysosomes with a relatively short t1/2 of 30 min, where it is rapidly degraded, releasing free [35S]sulfate without detectable intermediate products. Chloroquine treatment inhibited degradation, resulting in the accumulation of intact proteoglycans inside the cell. In pathway 2, 40% of the internalized HS-PG is first subjected to extensive proteolysis and limited endoglycosidic degradation yielding single HS chains about 1/3 of their original size (t1/2 of 30 min). Chloroquine did not inhibit this step. The partially degraded HS is then degraded further by limited endoglycosidic activity to about 1/4-1/5 the original size (t1/2 of 30-60 min). This step is inhibited by chloroquine. These smaller fragments have a relatively long t1/2 of 3-4 h before rapid degradation in the lysosomes, releasing free [35S]sulfate. Approximately 7% of the newly synthesized HS-PG that is not transported to the cell surface is degraded directly by pathway 2. The larger dermatan sulfate proteoglycan (DS-I) is transported to the cell surface from which it is quantitatively released into the medium with a t1/2 of 4-6 h. The smaller DS-PG (DS-II) is metabolized similarly to the HS-PG. Most (greater than 90%) is transported to the cell surface from which it is lost either by release into the medium (40%) or by internalization (60%). About 60% of the internalized DS-II is degraded by pathway 1 (t1/2 of 30 min), while the remainder appears to be degraded by pathway 2 with an overall t1/2 of 4 h. However, in contrast to the degradation of HS-PG by pathway 2, no endoglycosidic degradation of the DS chains occurred.