Changes in sugar nucleotide and high energy phosphate kinetics during in vivo development of sponge biopsy connective tissue.

Connective tissue varies widely in its histological appearance and chemical composition. Its physical state ranges from the hardness of bone to the viscous mucopolysaccharides found in synovial fluid. Current evidence would indicate that the special fibrillar and other extracellular constituents are formed by the cells of the connective tissue (1). Certain of these constituents have been shown to change with age (2, 3), nutritional status (4, 5), and during experimental propagation in vivo (6). Observations of this type suggest that physiological factors that regulate the functional state of connective tissue may be directly associated with the chemical intermediates leading to de novo synthesis of these cell products. The 5'-ribonucleotides 1 have been