Article Information

• PDF (1732 kb)

PubMed

• Articles by Jack L. Strominger

Related Articles

• Effect of Hormones on the Turnover of Polysaccharides in Con...

  Effect of Hormones on the Turnover of Polysaccharides in Connective Tissues Biophysical Journal, Volume 4, Issue 1, 1 January 1964, Pages 215-238 Dominic D. Dziewiatkowski Abstract A number of hormones somehow modify the turnover of the polysaccharides in a variety of connective tissues. In hypophysectomized animals the turnover of chondroitin sulfate and hyaluronic acid is decreased; when such animals are given growth hormone the turnover of chondroitin sulfate is enhanced but that of hyaluronic acid is unaltered. The effect of parathyroid extracts may be of a dual nature: in some connective tissues there may be an increase in the rate at which chondroitin sulfate is catabolized, in other tissues its synthesis may be stimulated. Thyroxine effectively restores toward normal the depressed synthesis and breakdown of polysaccharides in hypothyroid animals. Estradiol, in addition to inhibiting the resorption of the metaphyses in rats, inhibits the synthesis of chondroitin sulfate in cartilage and aorta. Cortisone too inhibits the synthesis of chondroitin sulfates and hyaluronic acid; its effect on their catabolism is not as striking. Abstract | PDF (5111 kb)

• Cytokinesis: GAGs Form the Walls that Separate Our Parts

  Cytokinesis: GAGs Form the Walls that Separate Our Parts Current Biology, Volume 13, Issue 18, 16 September 2003, Pages R717-R718 John White and Sebastian Bednarek Summary Cytokinesis, the final step of cell division, involves the formation of membranous barriers that partition cytosol and organelles between the resultant daughter cells. Recent studies reveal a crucial role for the extracellular glycosaminoglycan chondroitin in the completion of the cleavage furrow in dividing embryos. Summary | Full Text | PDF (85 kb)

• Control of Chondrogenesis in the Embryo

  Control of Chondrogenesis in the Embryo Biophysical Journal, Volume 4, Issue 1, 1 January 1964, Pages 239-250 Howard Holtzer Abstract Control of chondrogenesis in the embryo involves mechanisms which induce certain cells to synthesize chondroitin sulfate, as well as mechanisms which regulate the continued production of these molecules in differentiated chondrocytes. The embryonic spinal cord and notochord induce somite cells to chondrify. Interaction between these inducers and somite cells, however, is not sufficient in itself to transform the latter into chondrocytes; there must be additional reactions. The notion that induction simply involves the transmission of information-rich molecules like RNA or protein from inducers to somite cells is thought unlikely. When differentiated 10-day chondrocytes with all the enzymes and genetic information for the synthesis of chondroitin sulfate are removed from their mucopolysaccharide matrix and cultured as isolated cells they rapidly transform from spherical cells to stellate ones. Correlated with this change in shape and increase in surface area of cell membrane is the cessation of the production of chondroitin sulfate. The stellate cells are induced to synthesize DNA and multiply; their progeny, though permitted to resume their originally spherical shape, do not differentiate into recognizable chondrocytes again. Experiments of this kind suggest the presence of metabolic controls located in the cytoplasm and/or cell membrane. Abstract | PDF (749 kb)

• …more

Abstract

The role of nucleotides as “carriers” of small molecules for biosynthetic reactions is discussed. Following this introduction, the particular problem of nucleotide intermediates in chondroitin sulfate synthesis is presented. The egg shell of the hen contains a form of chondroitin sulfate and particular emphasis is placed on the biosynthesis of sulfated polysaccharides in the hen oviduct, which has been studied in the author's laboratory.