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. 1988 Mar 1;250(2):435-41.
doi: 10.1042/bj2500435.

Hyaluronic acid in human articular cartilage. Age-related changes in content and size

M W Holmes  1 , M T Bayliss, H Muir
Affiliations

Hyaluronic acid in human articular cartilage. Age-related changes in content and size

M W Holmes et al. Biochem J. .

Abstract

Total tissue content and molecular mass of hyaluronic acid was determined in papain digests of human articular cartilage using a sensitive radiosorbent assay [Laurent & Tengblad (1980) Anal. Biochem. 109, 386-394]. 1) Hyaluronic acid content increased from 0.5 microgram/mg wet wt. to 2.5 micrograms/mg wet wt. between the ages of 2.5 years and 86 years. 2) Hyaluronic acid chain size decreased from Mr 2.0 x 10(6) to 3.0 x 10(5) over the same age range. 3) There was no age-related change in the size of newly-synthesized hyaluronic acid, which was of very high molecular mass, in both immature and mature cartilage. The results are consistent with an age-related decrease in proteoglycan aggregate size and suggest that modification of the hyaluronic acid chain may take place in the extracellular matrix.

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