Composition and architecture of the extracellular matrix dictate cell behavior. Proteoglycans bind multiple components of the extracellular matrix by serving as important regulators of cell behavior. Given the influence of culture architecture on cell function, we investigated whether switching NIH3T3 fibroblasts from growth on type 1 collagen in monolayer to a collagen gel might influence dermatan sulfate expression. Immunofluorescent staining, immunoblot, and Western blot demonstrated an induction in decorin expression in cells switched to collagen gels. This induction was associated with a 40-fold increase in decorin transcript expression determined by quantitative real time PCR. Disaccharide analysis of extracted glycosaminoglycans from collagen gels showed an increase in total glycosaminoglycan and in the ratio of chondroitin sulfate to heparan sulfate compared with monolayer culture. The ratio of chondroitin sulfate to heparan sulfate likewise increased on syndecan-1 from gel culture. Digestion with chondroitinase B showed that this induced chondroitin sulfate was dermatan sulfate. Syndecan-1 extracted from wounded mouse skin also displayed an increase in dermatan sulfate synthesis compared with unwounded skin. Furthermore, glycosaminoglycans from collagen gel culture activated keratinocyte growth factor, whereas glycosaminoglycans from monolayer culture lacked this ability. These findings suggest that regulation of dermatan sulfate and dermatan sulfate proteoglycan is dependent on extracellular matrix architecture. The ability of collagen gel culture to mimic better the in vivo dermal environment may be due in part to this influence on dermatan sulfate and dermatan sulfate proteoglycan synthesis.Cell behavior is dependent on its environment. Extracellular matrix (ECM) 1 composition can dictate cell proliferation, movement, and morphology (1-3). Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), such as heparan sulfate (HS) and chondroitin sulfate (CS), are important ECM components that can influence these cell behaviors. HS has been well described to be involved in a vast number of cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions ranging from processes such as development to microbial invasion (4 -6). A growing body of evidence has identified another GAG, CS-B or dermatan sulfate (DS), as playing a role in large number of similar cellular processes (7). The observation that DS is released at high concentrations during wound repair, and that it serves as a cofactor for several growth factors important to this process, has made it an attractive molecule for investigating cell-matrix interactions (8,9).DS is made up of repeating disaccharide units of iduronic acid and GalNAc and is the predominant GAG in the dermis (7, 10). The presence of GalNAc identifies DS as a chondroitin sulfate, whereas the presence of the iduronic acid sets DS apart from other chondroitin sulfates. DS and DS proteoglycans (DSPG) bind a long list of proteins influencing a large range of physiological processes. For example, binding of DS to heparin cofactor-II, thromb...