Stimulation of sulphated glycosaminoglycan and decorin production in adult dermal fibroblasts by recombinant human interleukin-4.

Interleukin-4 (IL-4) is a pleiotropic cytokine expressed by inflammatory cells. Previous work from our laboratory has shown that it stimulates collagen synthesis in fibroblasts. Here we report the effects of recombinant human IL-4 on glycosaminoglycan (GAG) and proteoglycan synthesis in normal dermal fibroblasts from adult donors. IL-4 (10 and 100 units/ml) induced a dose-dependent increase of [3H]glucosamine and [35S]sulphate incorporation into total GAGs. The analysis of the different GAG fractions indicated the enhanced synthesis of dermatan/chondroitin sulphates. IL-4 had no effect on hyaluronan synthesis. The increase of sulphated GAG synthesis was correlated with an increase of proteoglycans in the culture medium. Decorin was identified as the major chondroitin/dermatan sulphate-containing proteoglycan in the culture medium of fibroblasts. Its synthesis was strongly stimulated by IL-4. Both the core-protein synthesis and mRNA expression were enhanced, indicating that the cytokine acted, at least in part, at the pre-translational level. These results indicate that IL-4 is able to modulate not only collagen, but also proteoglycan, production by human fibroblasts. Their implications in physiopathological processes such as wound healing or fibrosis is suggested.