Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.1.6.4 (chondroitinase)
 2,039 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

First-trimester and term placentae were studied histochemically with alcian blue stain before and after specific enzyme treatments. A specific deposition of glycosaminoglycans was detected in the villous stroma, fetal blood vessels and on the surface of the syncytiotrophoblast, the latter being discontinuous and of variable thickness. Treatments of sections with hyaluronidases from Streptomyces and from bovine testes and with chondroitinase ABC indicated the presence of (1) chondroitin sulphates and hyaluronic acid mainly in the stroma; (2) heparan sulphate and dermatan sulphate associated with villous fetal blood vessels and the intervillous surface of the syncytiotrophoblast. It is suggested that the location of individual glycosaminoglycans could be related to their functions with regard to the maintenance of the structural integrity of the placenta by preventing its compression and to their involvement in blood anticoagulation and in lipid metabolism.
Placenta
PMID:Histochemical localization of acidic glycosaminoglycans in normal human placentae. 640 96

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) promotes the growth not only of hepatocytes but also of several other types of cells such as cytotrophoblasts and endothelial cells. Recent studies have revealed that HGF is trapped in the extracellular (ECM) matrix through heparan sulphate in vivo, thereby acting as a mitogen for hepatocytes in cooperation with heparan sulphate. In this study, we detected HGF protein in chorionic tissue and placental tissue extracts, and found that HGF and heparan sulphate were co-distributed in the endothelial basement membrane and trophoblast basement membrane on immunohistochemical examination. The rates of DNA synthesis in primary cultured cytotrophoblasts and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) cultured on HGF-bound Matrigeltrade mark were 6-8 times those of control cytotrophoblasts and HUVEC. When Matrigeltrade mark dishes were pretreated with heparinase and heparitinase prior to binding of HGF, stimulation of DNA synthesis was markedly decreased. A considerable decrease in stimulation of DNA synthesis was observed following washing of HGF-bound Matrigeltrade mark with 1 m acetic acid, 1 m NaCl and 0.1 per cent trypsin, but not following treatment with chondroitinase ABC. These observations suggest that HGF can be trapped in ECM in vivo, thereby acting as a mitogen for cytotrophoblasts and placental vein endothelial cells in cooperation with heparan sulphate.
Placenta 1999 Nov
PMID:Stimulation of DNA synthesis in trophoblasts and human umbilical vein endothelial cells by hepatocyte growth factor bound to extracellular matrix. 1052 23

An important pathogenic complication of malaria during human pregnancy is sequestration of Plasmodium-infected red blood cells (iRBCs) in the placental intervillous spaces. This sequestration is thought to be mediated in part by binding of the iRBCs to receptors expressed on the syncytiotrophoblast (ST) membrane. We report here the use of a dynamic system to study the consequences of this cytoadherence on ST function using human syncytiotrophoblast and the choriocarcinoma cell line, BeWo. Laboratory isolates of Plasmodium falciparum were selected for their ability to bind to ST and used to investigate binding-induced cellular changes in the ST. Treatment of the ST cells with chondroitinase ABC suggested that the selected parasites bind predominantly to chondroitin sulfate A, but other receptors for parasite binding may be involved. Intracellular signaling in the ST induced by iRBCs binding was investigated by assessing tyrosine phosphorylation of ST proteins following iRBC binding. We demonstrate for the first time that iRBC cytoadherence to syncytiotrophoblast enhances tyrosine phosphorylation of a series of proteins in these cells. This approach will be useful in further studies of ST function in the malaria-infected placenta, the dynamics of selection of syncytiotrophoblast-binding parasites, and the identification of new receptors for parasite cytoadherence in the placenta.
Placenta
PMID:Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells selected for binding to cultured syncytiotrophoblast bind to chondroitin sulfate A and induce tyrosine phosphorylation in the syncytiotrophoblast. 1600 22