Hyaluronan interaction with proteoglycans

Figure 4 Link protein (LP) function. LPs are depicted in two functional roles. (A) LP interacts with nascent aggrecan to induce a conformational change in the aggrecan G1 region to facilitate interaction with hyaluronan (HA). (B) LP present in proteoglycan aggregates protects the HA core from degradation by preventing access of hyaluronidases or free radicals.

Proteoglycans and hyaluronan are ECM molecules that accumulate in lesions of atherosclerosis and contribute to lesion severity in a number of different ways. Not only do these molecules form the structural basis for these lesions to grow, they interact with a variety of other molecules involved in processes fundamental to the development of lesions and, in doing so, function as partial regulators of atherosclerotic events. If these molecules are a common element in the regulation of most of the atherosclerotic events, targeting this component of the lesion may be the best way to control the development of atherosclerosis. 

---