Effect of exogenous decorin on cell morphology and attachment of decorin-deficient fibroblasts

We have reported deficient expression of decorin on skin fibroblasts from a patient with carbohydrate-deficient glycoprotein syndrome type I [Gu, J. and Wada, Y. (1995) J. Biochem. 117, 1276-1279]. The characteristics of fibroblasts from this patient included increased cell spreading and reduced proliferation. We analyzed the expression of other extracellular matrix proteins by Western and Northern blot analyses, and found that adhesion molecules, fibronectin, and type I collagen, were increased, whereas an anti-adhesion molecule, tenascin, was decreased, like decorin. Subsequently, decorin was purified from bovine tendons, and cultured with these fibroblasts in fibronectin-depleted culture medium. Exogenous decorin inhibited cell attachment to a plastic culture dish in a dose-dependent manner, while dermatan sulfate did not. The cell morphology was markedly normalized by decorin, but proliferation was not restored. These findings suggest that decorin exhibits an anti-adhesion property in a fibroblast culture system and that the deficiency is responsible for the morphological change observed in this patient's fibroblasts.