Obesity is characterized by adipocyte hypertrophy and macrophage accumulation in adipose tissue. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) plays a role in macrophage recruitment into adipose tissue. However, other adipocyte-derived factors, e.g., hyaluronan and serum amyloid A (SAA), can facilitate monocyte adhesion and chemotaxis, respectively. The objective was to test the potential involvem...

Three mammalian hyaluronan synthase genes, HAS1, HAS2, and HAS3, have recently been cloned. In this study, we characterized and compared the enzymatic properties of these three HAS proteins. Expression of any of these genes in COS-1 cells or rat 3Y1 fibroblasts yielded de novo formation of a hyaluronan coat. The pericellular coats formed by HAS1 transfectants were significantly smaller than tho...

The catabolic fate of circulating hyaluronan and the proteoglycan chondroitin sulphate (CSPG) was studied in the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.). Distribution studies using radio-iodinated ligand demonstrated that CSPG was rapidly eliminated from the blood by the endocardial endothelial cells (EECs) of the heart atrium and ventricle. The presence of excess amounts of hyaluronan or CSPG inhibited...

Hyaluronan, a macromolecular carbohydrate polymer of the extracellular matrix is prominent early in embryogenesis, coinciding with rapid tissue growth. CD44, the predominant receptor for hyaluronan on vertebrate cells, is a variably expressed transmembrane glycoprotein. Mouse anterior prostate glands obtained at various postnatal time points were examined for the expression of hyaluronan and CD...

Hyaluronan is a negatively charged polydisperse polysaccharide where both its size and tissue concentration play an important role in many physiological and pathological processes. The various functions of hyaluronan depend on its molecular size. Up to now, it has been difficult to study the role of hyaluronan in diseases with pathological changes in the extracellular matrix where availability ...

Hyaluronan synthases (HAS1-3) are integral plasma membrane proteins that synthesize hyaluronan, a cell surface and extracellular matrix polysaccharide necessary for many biological processes. It has been shown that HAS is partly localized in cholesterol-rich lipid rafts of MCF-7 cells, and cholesterol depletion with methyl-beta-cyclodextrin (MbetaCD) suppresses hyaluronan secretion in smooth mu...

Hyaluronan is a biopolymer suitable as a targeting unit in drug delivery systems according to affinity of hyaluronan to CD-44 receptor of cancer cells. We suppose that hyaluronan, when interacts with cationic surfactant, influences hydration of Stern layer of CTAB which affects fluorescence properties of 1-naphthol. We study excited state proton transfer of 1-naphthol in aqueous solution and in...

Hyaluronan, a ubiquitous naturally occurring glycosaminoglycan, is a major component of the extracellular matrix, where it participates in biological processes that include water homeostasis, cell-matrix signaling, tissue healing, inflammation, angiogenesis, and cell proliferation and migration. There are emerging data that hyaluronan and its degradation products have an important role in the p...

The status of hyaluronan, the major glycosaminoglycan in the skin, is regulated by many factors such as cytokines and glucocorticoids. To examine whether and how protein malnutrition affects the status of skin hyaluronan, the hyaluronan content and mRNA levels of hyaluronan synthases (has) were analyzed in the skin of rats fed on a protein-free diet or on a 12% gluten diet. When these malnouris...

Metastatic invasion is the primary cause of breast cancer mortality, and adhesion receptors, such as CD44, are believed to be critical in this process. Historically, primary breast tumor epithelium has been investigated in isolation from other tissue components, leading to the common interpretation that CD44 and its primary ligand, hyaluronan, promote invasion. Here, we provide in vivo evidence...