Influence of calcium concentration in the medium on the cell proliferation and glycosaminoglycan synthesis of human diploid skin fibroblasts in culture.

Changes of the glycosaminoglycan (GAGs) fractions in the medium, the cell surface of human diploid skin fibroblasts and the relation between GAGs synthesis and cell growth in cultured media containing various Ca++ concentrations were investigated by means of electrophoretic fractionation. The results demonstrated that the synthesis of the hyaluronic acid (HA) fraction was increased with increase of the Ca++ concentration in the medium, and this change appeared to be linked to the condition of cell growth. The synthesis of the heparan sulfate and dermatan sulfate (HS + DS) fraction was decreased with increase of the Ca++ concentration in the medium, and this change depended largely on the Ca++ concentration in the medium rather than the cell growth. The synthesis of the chondroitin sulfate (Ch-s) fraction was also decreased with increase of the Ca++ concentration in the medium. However, this change was neither controlled especially by the Ca++ concentration in the medium nor by the condition of cell growth, but reflected the decrease of total GAGs synthesis by the increase of the Ca++ concentration in the medium.