Hyaluronan metabolism

Agren, U.M., Tammi, M., and Tammi, R., Hydrocortisone regulation of hyaluronan metabolism in human skin organ culture, J. Cell. Phys., 164, 240, 1995. 

Stern, R. (2005). Hyaluronan metabolism a major paradox in eancer biology. Pathologie Biolo-gie 53, 372-382. 

Yung, S., Thomas, G.J., Davies M. (2000). Induction of hyaluronan metabolism after mechanical injury of human peritoneal mesothelial cells in vitro. Kidney International, 58,1953-1962. 

Blot L, Marcelis A, Devogelaer JP, Manicourt DH. Effects of diclofenac, aceclofenac and meloxicam on the metabolism of proteoglycans and hyaluronan in osteoarthritic human cartilage. Br J Pharmacol. 2000 131 1413-1421. 

Stem et aL [149] made use of a hyaluronan-binding protein obtained from the tryptic digestion of the proteoglycan core protein of bovine nasal cartilage to detect hy alumni da sc activities in urine samples from wiles tumor patients. The pathophysiology of this tumor is associated with major alterations in the metabolism of hyaluiouan, and it is thought that urinary hyaluronidase can be used as an additional marker. 

Skin retains a large amount of water, and much of the external traumas to which it is constantly subjected, in addition to the normal process of aging, cause loss of moisture. The key molecule involved in skin moisture is hyaluronan (hyaluronic acid HA) with its associated water-of-hydration. Understanding the metabolism of HA, its reactions within skin, and the interactions of HA with other skin components, will facilitate the ability to modulate skin moisture in a rational manner, different from the empirical attempts that have been utilized up to now. 

Hyaluronan is very metabolically active, with a half-life of 3 to 5 min in the circulation,less than one day in skin, and even in an inert a tissue as cartilage, the HA turns over with a half-life of 1 to 3 weeks.66,67,184 This catabolic activity is primarily the result of hyaluronidases, endoglycolytic enzymes with a specificity in most cases for the ft 1 1 glycosidic bond. 

My interest then turned to the metabolism of hyaluronan in the eye and in joints. Since we were going to use this molecule as a therapeutic agent in these tissues, we had to know more about how long this molecule could remain in these tissues. My new wife, Janet Denlinger, focused her research in our laboratory on this subject which later became the topic of her doctoral thesis. 

In the fall of 1981, my wife, Janet Denlinger and I went to Paris to spend a year in Laszlo Robert and Jacqueline Labat-Robert s Biochemistry of Connective Tissue Laboratory at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Paris. Laszlo and his wife Jacqueline are well-known researchers in the connective tissue field. The objective was for Janet to carry out research in the collaboration with the Roberts and write her doctoral thesis on the metabolism of hyaluronan in the vitreus and joint. She had already completed her course work at Columbia University. Professor Jean Montreuil, a polysaccharide chemist and Head of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Lille, along with Professor Robert, accepted the sponsorship of Janet s doctoral thesis which she presented in May of 1982 in French, earning a summa cum laude mention along with her degree. Her thesis work laid the foundation of our understanding of how hyaluronan is metabolized in the vitreus and joints of various animal species such as horses, rabbits and monkeys. 

Sobotka, L. Velebny, V. Ruzickova, J. Kusalova, M. Zadak, Z. In Hyaluronan Structure, Metabolism, Biological Activities, Therapeutic Applications Balazs, E.A. Hascall, V.C., Eds. Matrix Biology Institute Press Edgewater, NJ 2005, pp. 851-853. 

Figure 1.3 Putative metabolic scheme for hyaluronan degradation [53].

Volpi, N., Schiller, J., Stern, R., and Soltes, L. 2009. Role, metabolism, chemical modifications and applications of hyaluronan, Curr. Med. Chem., 16 1718-1745. 

Needham, A.E. (1965) The Uniqueness of Biological Materials. Pergamon. Elmsford, NY. Sutton-McDowall, M.L., Gilchrist, R.B., Thompson, J.G. (2010). The pivotal role of glucose metabolism in determining oocyte developmental competence. Reproduction, 139, 685-695. Spicer, A.P., McDonald, J.A. (1988) Characterization and molecular evolution of a vertebrate hyaluronan synthase gene family. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 273, 1923-1932. 

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