Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) possess considerable heterogeneity in average molecular mass, molecular mass range, disaccharide composition and content and position of sulfo groups. Despite recent technological advances in the analysis of GAGs, the determination of GAG disaccharide composition still remains challenging and provides key information required for understanding GAG function. Analysis of GAG-derived disaccharides relies on enzymatic treatment, providing one of the most practical and quantitative approaches for compositional mapping. Tagging the reducing end of disaccharides with an aromatic fluorescent label affords stable derivatives with properties that enable improved detection and resolution. HPLC with on-line electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) offers a relatively soft ionization method for detection and characterization of sulfated oligosaccharides. GAGs obtained from tissues, biological fluids or cells are treated with various enzymes to obtain disaccharides that are fluorescently labeled with 2-aminoacridone (AMAC) and resolved by different LC systems for high-sensitivity detection by fluorescence, and then they are unambiguously characterized by MS. The preparation and labeling of GAG-derived disaccharides can be performed in ∼1-2 d, and subsequent HPLC separation and on-line fluorescence detection and ESI-MS analysis takes another 1-2 h.

Analysis of glycosaminoglycan-derived, precolumn, 2-aminoacridone–labeled disaccharides with LC-fluorescence and LC-MS detection

Corneal Stromal Bioequivalents Secreted on Patterned Silk Substrates

Corneal blindness afflicts millions of individuals worldwide and is currently treated by grafting with cadaveric tissues; however, there are worldwide donor tissue shortages, and many allogeneic grafts are eventually rejected. Autologous stem cells present a prospect for personalized regenerative medicine and an alternative to cadaveric tissue grafts. Dental pulp contains a population of adult stem cells and, similar to corneal stroma, develops embryonically from the cranial neural crest. We report that adult dental pulp cells (DPCs) isolated from third molars have the capability to differentiate into keratocytes, cells of the corneal stoma. After inducing differentiation in vitro, DPCs expressed molecules characteristic of keratocytes, keratocan, and keratan sulfate proteoglycans at both the gene and the protein levels. DPCs cultured on aligned nanofiber substrates generated tissue-engineered, corneal stromal-like constructs, recapitulating the tightly packed, aligned, parallel fibrillar collagen of native stromal tissue. After injection in vivo into mouse corneal stroma, human DPCs produced corneal stromal extracellular matrix containing human type I collagen and keratocan and did not affect corneal transparency or induce immunological rejection. These findings demonstrate a potential for the clinical application of DPCs in cellular or tissue engineering therapies for corneal stromal blindness.

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Dental pulp stem cells: a new cellular resource for corneal stromal regeneration.

Keratan sulfate: an up-to-date review.

https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=pharmacy_articles

Paolo Brusini

Papers

Localization and expression of CHST6 and keratan sulfate proteoglycans in the human cornea.