Angiogenic oligosaccharides of hyaluronan enhance the production of collagens by endothelial cells.

The present study demonstrates a relationship between angiogenic oligosaccharides of hyaluronan (HA) and the production of collagens during the process of angiogenesis in vivo and in vitro. The addition of angiogenic oligosaccharides of HA to the chorioallantoic membrane of the chick embryo induced a deposition of collagen fibrils. The treatment of sub-confluent cultures of bovine aortic endothelial cells with the same oligosaccharides (1 microgram/ml) increased the uptake of [3H]proline by approximately 60%. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of treated cultures demonstrated the enhanced synthesis of type I and type VIII collagens. The production of type VIII collagen was confirmed by western blotting and immunocytochemistry using antibodies to sheep and bovine type VIII collagen. Type VIII collagen is a short chain collagen that has a high degree of homology to cartilage-specific type X collagen. The biological functions of type VIII and type X collagens are unknown. We have suggested that the two collagens play a role in the process of angiogenesis.