Kinetics of intracellular processing of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan core protein and other matrix components.

Pulse-chase labeling techniques are used in conjunction with subcellular fractionation and quantitative immunoprecipitation to define the kinetics of intracellular translocation and secretion of proteoglycan core protein, along with link protein and type II collagen. In embryonic chick chondrocytes the core protein is processed very rapidly, exhibiting a t 1/2 in both the rough endoplasmic reticulum and golgi region of less than 10 min. Link protein appears to be processed as rapidly as the core protein, but the kinetics of type II collagen secretion is 3-4 times slower. These results are consistent with possible segregation and coordinate intracellular processing of link protein and core protein, macromolecules which are known to associate extracellularly. In contrast, rat chondrosarcoma chondrocytes translocated and secreted the core protein much more slowly (t 1/2 = 40 min) than the chick cells, perhaps due to the significantly reduced levels of galactosyltransferase I observed in the transformed chondrocytes.