CD44 is the principle transmembrane receptor for the extracellular matrix glycosaminoglycan hyaluronan. This receptor:ligand interaction plays an essential role in a number of physiological events including tumour progression, lymphocyte homing into inflammatory sites and tissue morphogenesis during development. In previous studies we have shown that serine phosphorylation is a critical control...

Pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis are characterized by increased turnover and production of the extracellular matrix as well as an impairment of lung fibrinolytic activity. Although fragments of the extracellular matrix component hyaluronan induce macrophage production of inflammatory mediators, the effect of hyaluronan on the fibrinolytic mediators plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1 and...

The concentration and histological distribution of hyaluronan, a tumor promoting extracellular matrix polysaccharide, and the activity of hyaluronidase, a potential source of angiogenic hyaluronan oligosaccharides, were analyzed in malignant epithelial (n 24), borderline (n 8), benign epithelial (n 20), functional cyst (n 21), and normal (n 5) tissue samples of human ovary. Hyaluronan concentra...

Background—Hyaluronan is thought to mediate neointimal hyperplasia but also vasoprotection as an integral component of the endothelial glycocalyx. The present study addressed for the first time the effects of long-term pharmacological inhibition of hyaluronan synthesis on vascular function and atherosclerosis. Methods and Results—Four-week-old apolipoprotein E– deficient mice on a Western diet ...

Brinck, J. 2000. The Expression and Regulation of Hyaluronan Synthases and Their Role in Glycosaminoglycan Synthesis. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Medicine 955. 63 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 91-554-4806-2. The glycosaminoglycan hyaluronan is an essential component of the extracellular matrix in all higher organisms, affecting cellul...

Ducale, Ashley E., Susan I. Ward, Tracey Dechert, and Dorne R. Yager. Regulation of hyaluronan synthase-2 expression in human intestinal mesenchymal cells: mechanisms of interleukin-1 -mediated induction. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 289: G462–G470, 2005. First published January 27, 2005; doi:10.1152/ajpgi.00494.2004.—Elevated levels of hyaluronan are associated with numerous inflamm...

In the present study, we have examined the distribution of both hyaluronan and its receptor, CD44, during the process of endochondral ossification in the mouse tibia. Histochemical staining revealed that a large amount of hyaluronan was present in the lacunae located in the zone of hypertrophy, but it was greatly reduced or absent from the zone of erosion. In addition, hyaluronan was present in...

PURPOSE To determine whether there is any involvement of sympathetic nerves in the regulation of ocular hyaluronan production in the normal and traumatized rabbit iris. METHODS Unilateral sympathetic denervation was performed by removing the right superior cervical ganglion. Hyaluronan concentrations in the iris and aqueous were measured with a radiometric assay at various time intervals afte...

Johnsson, H. 2001. Lung Hyaluronan and Lung Water in the Perinatal Period. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Medicine 1020. 59 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 91-554-4989-1. Hyaluronan is an important component of the lung extracellular matrix, with a high capacity for water immobilization, but information on perinatal changes in the lung hya...

Hyaluronan oligosaccharides (molecular weight: approximately 2.5 x 10(3)) inhibit growth of several types of tumors in vivo. In vitro, the oligomers inhibit anchorage-independent growth of several tumor cell types. In accordance with this finding, the oligomers also induce apoptosis and stimulate caspase-3 activity under anchorage-independent conditions. Since inhibitors of phosphoinositide 3-k...