A novel large dermatan sulfate proteoglycan from human fibroblasts

Human skin fibroblasts express, in addition to versican, a second large chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate proteoglycan, which has been investigated with the aid of a specific antiserum in cultures of fetal fibroblasts. Its core protein, obtained after chondroitin ABC lyase treatment, exhibits an apparent molecular mass of about 740 kDa in the absence of a reducing agent whereas reduction produces two core proteins of 460 and 300 kDa, respectively. Both subunits carry one or very few dermatan sulfate chains of about 20 kDa which are of similar chemical composition irrespective of the type of subunits to which they are attached. Tryptic peptide maps of [35S]methionine-labeled core proteins indicated that both subunits are related neither to each other nor to versican, suggesting that the proteoglycan exists predominantly as a heterodimeric molecule. It is insensitive to collagenase and does not interact with hyaluronan. Pulse-chase experiments suggested that the core proteins are different gene products. Dimerization begins soon after core protein synthesis but requires more than 2 h for completion. Glycosaminoglycan synthesis occurs immediately prior to secretion. A small proportion of both subunits may be secreted in form of a monomeric proteoglycan. The heterodimeric proteoglycan is a major proteoglycan species of fetal fibroblasts. The secreted product represents 10-20% of [35S]methionine and about 5-10% of [35S]sulfate incorporated into secreted proteoglycans.