Total tissue content and molecular mass of hyaluronic acid was determined in papain digests of human articular cartilage using a sensitive radiosorbent assay [Laurent & Tengblad (1980) Anal. Biochem. 109, 386-394]. 1) Hyaluronic acid content increased from 0.5 microgram/mg wet wt. to 2.5 micrograms/mg wet wt. between the ages of 2.5 years and 86 years. 2) Hyaluronic acid chain size decreased from Mr 2.0 x 10(6) to 3.0 x 10(5) over the same age range. 3) There was no age-related change in the size of newly-synthesized hyaluronic acid, which was of very high molecular mass, in both immature and mature cartilage. The results are consistent with an age-related decrease in proteoglycan aggregate size and suggest that modification of the hyaluronic acid chain may take place in the extracellular matrix.
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March 1988
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Research Article|
March 01 1988
Hyaluronic acid in human articular cartilage. Age-related changes in content and size Available to Purchase
M W A Holmes;
M W A Holmes
Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Division of Biochemistry, 6 Bute Gardens, Hammersmith, London W6 7DW, U.K.
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M T Bayliss;
M T Bayliss
Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Division of Biochemistry, 6 Bute Gardens, Hammersmith, London W6 7DW, U.K.
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H Muir
H Muir
Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Division of Biochemistry, 6 Bute Gardens, Hammersmith, London W6 7DW, U.K.
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Online ISSN: 1470-8728
Print ISSN: 0264-6021
© 1988 London: The Biochemical Society
1988
Biochem J (1988) 250 (2): 435–441.
Citation
M W A Holmes, M T Bayliss, H Muir; Hyaluronic acid in human articular cartilage. Age-related changes in content and size. Biochem J 1 March 1988; 250 (2): 435–441. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/bj2500435
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