Diabetes, Vol 35, Issue 10 1130-1142, Copyright © 1986 by American Diabetes Association
Glomerular proteoglycans in diabetes. Partial structural characterization and metabolism of de novo synthesized heparan-35SO4 and dermatan-35SO4 proteoglycans in streptozocin-induced diabetic rats
DJ Klein, DM Brown and TR Oegema
The metabolism of glomerular proteoglycans was studied in an effort to
understand the mechanisms leading to reduction of glomerular basement
membrane (GBM) heparan sulfate (heparan-SO4) proteoglycan in diabetes.
Glomeruli were isolated from control and streptozocin-induced diabetic rats
after exposure to [35S]sulfate. A pool of rapidly metabolized
35S-glycosaminoglycans (GAG), predominantly heparan-35SO4, was present in
GBMs from controls but not diabetics, whereas intact isolated glomeruli
from the two groups contained similar quantities of 35S-macromolecules
after 4 and 16 h in vitro. Glomeruli from diabetics contained less
35S-proteoglycan than controls after 16 h in vivo. A more rapid
disappearance of [35S]sulfate from serum and an increased inorganic sulfate
concentration in diabetes may account for this difference. Glomeruli from
diabetics contained more heparan-35SO4 and less dermatan-35SO4 proteoglycan
than control glomeruli in vitro. Diabetic glomerular heparan-35SO4
proteoglycan and its GAG chains had hydrodynamic sizes similar to controls
(Mr, 13 and 1.25 X 10(4), respectively). A heparin-releasable heparan-35SO4
proteoglycan detected in isolated control glomeruli by gel electrophoresis
was present in chase medium of glomeruli from diabetics in the absence of
heparin. Two dermatan-35SO4 proteoglycans were synthesized in vitro. One
had size and charge properties similar to glomerular heparan-35SO4
proteoglycan. A second, larger dermatan-35SO4 proteoglycan accumulated in
tissue over 16 h. It was partially excluded from Sepharose CL-6B columns
and eluted from Sepharose CL-4B columns at Kav = 0.32. The hydrodynamic
sizes of both tissue forms of dermatan-35SO4 proteoglycans were similar in
diabetics and controls. Differences in the biochemical characteristics of
the major de novo synthesized glomerular proteoglycan pools could not be
invoked to explain altered metabolism of GBM heparan sulfate in diabetic
animals. These changes may result from diminished affinity of heparan
sulfate proteoglycan for extracellular matrix or cell surfaces and may
account for altered glomerular ultrafiltration properties in diabetes
mellitus.