Regulation of hyaluronate metabolism by progesterone in cultured fibroblasts from the human uterine cervix.

The effects of progesterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and 17beta-estradiol on the synthesis and degradation of hyaluronate were investigated using human uterine cervix fibroblasts. The cells were incubated with [3H]glucosamine in the presence of the hormones and then [3H]hyaluronate was isolated from the medium. The changes in the radioactivity of [3H]hyaluronate showed that progesterone suppressed hyaluronate synthesis by 22% of the control levels, while dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and 17beta-estradiol enhanced it by 22% and 12% of the control levels, respectively. Furthermore, progesterone induced degradation of high-molecular-weight [14C]hyaluronate into low-molecular-weight hyaluronate (Mr approximately 40000). These results suggest that in cultured fibroblasts from the human uterine cervix progesterone converts hyaluronate metabolism from the synthesis phase to the degradation phase.