Hyaluronate degradation in 3T3 and simian virus-transformed 3T3 cells

The cellular control of hyaluronate levels was examined in cultures of simian virus 40-transformed 3T3 (SV3T3) and 3T3 cells which are known to differ in their metabolism of hyaluronate. When [3H]hyaluronate was added to cultures of the two cell lines, four times more ligand was bound per mg of protein by the SV3T3 cells than by the 3T3 cells. Of the bound [3H] hyaluronate, 40% was degraded by the SV3T3 cells to oligosaccharides characteristic of the breakdown of hyaluronate, but only 2% was degraded by 3T3 cells. Hyaluronidase activity was found in the cell layer and medium of the SV3T3 cultures, but was not detectable in 3T3 cells. The SV3T3 enzyme was active only at acidic pH, but at neutral pH the secreted SV3T3 hyaluronidase was thermally more stable then the cell-associated enzyme. In contrast, both cell lines were found to contain similar amounts of beta-glucuronidase and beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase activity. We conclude that the elevated capacity of SV3T3 cells to degrade hyaluronate may be partially responsible for their lack of the hyaluronate-containing pericellular coat which is prominent around 3T3 cells.