Characterization of low buoyant density dermatan sulfate proteoglycans synthesized by rat ovarian granulosa cells in culture.

Rat ovarian granulosa cells were isolated from immature female rats after stimulation with pregnant mare's serum gonadotropin and maintained in culture. Proteoglycans were labeled with [35S]sulfate, [3H]glucosamine, [3H]serine, or [3H]mannose as precursors. A low buoyant density dermatan sulfate proteoglycan was separated from a larger hydrodynamic size, high buoyant density dermatan sulfate proteoglycan and from a heparan sulfate proteoglycan using DEAE-Sephacel and Sepharose CL-4B chromatography under dissociative conditions in the presence of detergent. This low buoyant density dermatan sulfate proteoglycan, which constituted approximately 30% of the 35S-labeled proteoglycans in the culture medium, has a relatively small hydrodynamic size (Kd = 0.45 on Sepharose CL-4B) and shows a broad buoyant density distribution in CsCl density gradients, primarily due to the heterogeneity in glycosaminoglycan composition. The average molecular weight of the protein coreoligosaccharide complex obtained by chondroitinase ABC digestion of the proteoglycan was estimated to be approximately 230,000 by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. After digestion with chondroitinase ABC, the dermatan sulfate chains (average Mr = 33,000) yielded 81% 4-sulfated disaccharides and 17% disulfated disaccharides (sulfate groups on the 6-position of the galNAc and probably on the 2-position of the iduronic acid). Alkaline borohydride treatment of this proteoglycan released three distinct size species of oligosaccharides; a species of N-linked oligosaccharide which contains mannose, glcNAc, and sialic acid, and two species of O-linked oligosaccharides. Trypsin digestion of the proteoglycan generated fragments which contain (a) glycosaminoglycan-peptides with an average of 2 dermatan sulfate chains, (b) clusters of O-linked oligosaccharide-peptides, and (c) N-linked oligosaccharide-peptides.