Glycosaminoglycans in Hydra magnipapillata (Hydrozoa, Cnidaria): demonstration of chondroitin in the developing nematocyst, the sting organelle, and structural characterization of glycosaminoglycans.

The hydrozoan is the simplest organism whose movements are governed by the neuromuscular system, and its de novo morphogenesis can be easily induced by the removal of body parts. These features make the hydrozoan an excellent model for studying the regeneration of tissues in vivo, especially in the nervous system. Although glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and proteoglycans (PGs) have been implicated in the signaling functions of various growth factors and play critical roles in the development of the central nervous system, the isolation and characterization of GAGs from hydrozoans have never been reported. Here, we characterized GAGs of Hydra magnipapillata. Immunostaining using anti-GAG antibodies showed chondroitin or chondroitin sulfate (CS) in the developing nematocyst, which is a sting organelle specific to cnidarians. The CS-PGs might furnish an environment for assembling nematocyst components, and might themselves be components of nematocysts. Therefore, GAGs were isolated from Hydra and their structural features were examined. A considerable amount of CS, three orders of magnitude less heparan sulfate (HS), but no hyaluronan were found, as in Caenorhabditis elegans. Analysis of the disaccharide composition of HS revealed glucosamine 2-N-sulfation, glucosamine 6-O-sulfation, and uronate 2-O-sulfation. CS contains not only nonsulfated and 4-O-sulfated N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) but also 6-O-sulfated GalNAc. The average molecular size of CS and HS was 110 and 10 kDa, respectively. It has also been established here that CS chains are synthesized on the core protein through the ubiquitous linkage region tetrasaccharide, suggesting that indispensable functions of the linkage region in the synthesis of GAGs have been conserved during evolution.