Chemical biology in the embryo: In situ imaging of sulfur biochemistry in normal and proteoglycan-deficient cartilage matrix

© 2016 American Chemical Society. Proteoglycans (PGs) are heavily glycosylated proteins that play major structural and biological roles in many tissues. Proteoglycans are abundant in cartilage extracellular matrix; their loss is a main feature of the joint disease osteoarthritis. Proteoglycan functi...

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Main Authors: Hackett, Mark, George, G., Pickering, I., Eames, B.
Format: Journal Article
Published: American Chemical Society 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/35245
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author Hackett, Mark
George, G.
Pickering, I.
Eames, B.
author_facet Hackett, Mark
George, G.
Pickering, I.
Eames, B.
author_sort Hackett, Mark
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2016 American Chemical Society. Proteoglycans (PGs) are heavily glycosylated proteins that play major structural and biological roles in many tissues. Proteoglycans are abundant in cartilage extracellular matrix; their loss is a main feature of the joint disease osteoarthritis. Proteoglycan function is regulated by sulfation-sulfate ester formation with specific sugar residues. Visualization of sulfation within cartilage matrix would yield vital insights into its biological roles. We present synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence imaging of developing zebrafish cartilage, providing the first in situ maps of sulfate ester distribution. Levels of both sulfur and sulfate esters decrease as cartilage develops through late phase differentiation (maturation or hypertrophy), suggesting a functional link between cartilage matrix sulfur content and chondrocyte differentiation. Genetic experiments confirm that sulfate ester levels were due to cartilage proteoglycans and support the hypothesis that sulfate ester levels regulate chondrocyte differentiation. Surprisingly, in the PG synthesis mutant, the total level of sulfur was not significantly reduced, suggesting sulfur is distributed in an alternative chemical form during lowered cartilage proteoglycan production. Fourier transform infrared imaging indicated increased levels of protein in the mutant fish, suggesting that this alternative sulfur form might be ascribed to an increased level of protein synthesis in the mutant fish, as part of a compensatory mechanism.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-352452017-09-13T15:32:02Z Chemical biology in the embryo: In situ imaging of sulfur biochemistry in normal and proteoglycan-deficient cartilage matrix Hackett, Mark George, G. Pickering, I. Eames, B. © 2016 American Chemical Society. Proteoglycans (PGs) are heavily glycosylated proteins that play major structural and biological roles in many tissues. Proteoglycans are abundant in cartilage extracellular matrix; their loss is a main feature of the joint disease osteoarthritis. Proteoglycan function is regulated by sulfation-sulfate ester formation with specific sugar residues. Visualization of sulfation within cartilage matrix would yield vital insights into its biological roles. We present synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence imaging of developing zebrafish cartilage, providing the first in situ maps of sulfate ester distribution. Levels of both sulfur and sulfate esters decrease as cartilage develops through late phase differentiation (maturation or hypertrophy), suggesting a functional link between cartilage matrix sulfur content and chondrocyte differentiation. Genetic experiments confirm that sulfate ester levels were due to cartilage proteoglycans and support the hypothesis that sulfate ester levels regulate chondrocyte differentiation. Surprisingly, in the PG synthesis mutant, the total level of sulfur was not significantly reduced, suggesting sulfur is distributed in an alternative chemical form during lowered cartilage proteoglycan production. Fourier transform infrared imaging indicated increased levels of protein in the mutant fish, suggesting that this alternative sulfur form might be ascribed to an increased level of protein synthesis in the mutant fish, as part of a compensatory mechanism. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/35245 10.1021/acs.biochem.5b01136 American Chemical Society fulltext
spellingShingle Hackett, Mark
George, G.
Pickering, I.
Eames, B.
Chemical biology in the embryo: In situ imaging of sulfur biochemistry in normal and proteoglycan-deficient cartilage matrix
title Chemical biology in the embryo: In situ imaging of sulfur biochemistry in normal and proteoglycan-deficient cartilage matrix
title_full Chemical biology in the embryo: In situ imaging of sulfur biochemistry in normal and proteoglycan-deficient cartilage matrix
title_fullStr Chemical biology in the embryo: In situ imaging of sulfur biochemistry in normal and proteoglycan-deficient cartilage matrix
title_full_unstemmed Chemical biology in the embryo: In situ imaging of sulfur biochemistry in normal and proteoglycan-deficient cartilage matrix
title_short Chemical biology in the embryo: In situ imaging of sulfur biochemistry in normal and proteoglycan-deficient cartilage matrix
title_sort chemical biology in the embryo: in situ imaging of sulfur biochemistry in normal and proteoglycan-deficient cartilage matrix
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/35245