Expression of Heparan Sulphate and Small Dermatan/Chondroitin Sulphate Proteoglycans in Chronically Inflamed Human Periodontium

Abstract

Proteoglycans (PGs) function in regulating aspects of cell behavior, such as proliferation, adhesion, and migration. In this report, we investigated the localization of three heparan sulphate PGs (basement membrane [BM] heparan sulphate PG, CD44, and syndecan-1) and two small dermatan/chondroitin sulphate PGs (decorin and biglycan) in chronically inflamed human periodontium. Frozen sections were analyzed by immunofluorescence microscopy. In inflamed tissue, BM heparan sulphate PG showed reduced immunostaining in subepithelial and subendothelial basement membrane. Loss of CD44 and syndecan-1 was common in epithelial cells of inflamed periodontal tissue. Suprabasal keratinocytes of epithelium expressed involucrin, a cornified envelope protein and marker for epithelial differentiation, while the expression of syndecan-1 was weak or absent. In contrast, expression of the mesenchymal variant of CD44 and syndecan-1 was strong in infiltrating lymphocytes. Small dermatan/chondroitin sulphate PGs, decorin and biglycan, were also present in markedly reduced amounts in the periodontal connective tissue in chronic inflammation. In addition, decorin localized in the connective tissue along short rod-like structures. The results suggest that proteoglycan-dependent intercellular adhesion of keratinocytes is decreased and that adhesion of lymphocytes to matrix molecules via cell surface PGs increased in chronic inflammation. Disappearance of adhesion-modulating small dermatan/chondroitin sulphate PGs may further regulate cell migration in inflamed periodontium.

Syndecan‐1 Expression During the Formation of Junctional Epithelium

“…In general, epithelial tissues are known to synthesize syndecan-1. 36 Additionally, it is intensely expressed in tissues of active cell proliferation, 11,37 cell-cell, and cell-matrix interactions 14 and epithelial cell migration during wound healing, 38,39 but is lost when these cells undergo terminal differentiation. 13 Therefore, the syndecan-1 protein expression pattern observed in this study may be analogous to these previous works.…”

A Role for Decorin in the Structural Organization of Periodontal Ligament

“…Decorin is one of the major proteoglycans secreted by human periodontal fibroblasts in vitro (Häkkinen et al, 1996;Larjava et al, 1992), and it is expressed abundantly in the periodontal connective tissues in vivo (Cheng et al, 1999a;Häkkinen et al, 1993;Oksala et al, 1995Oksala et al, , 1997Robey, 1996). During development of teeth in rats, expression of decorin is spatially and temporally regulated (Zhang et al, 1995), suggesting that it may regulate odontogenesis and formation of the periodontal ligament.…”

“…Early onset periodontitis has also been reported in EDS types IV, VII, and IX (Aldred and Bartold, 1998;Hartsfield and Kousseff, 1990;Ooshima et al, 1990). In periodontal disease, the breakdown of the collagen-rich connective tissue matrix parallels a decrease in the level of decorin in the inflamed connective tissue (Oksala et al, 1997). The decrease in decorin expression most likely results from increased decorin degradation caused by inflammation (Waddington et al, 1998) and down-regulation of decorin expression of fibroblasts by inflammatory cytokines (Häkkinen et al, 1996;Kähäri et al, 1991;Mauviel et al, 1995) and mitogenic growth factors (Laine et al, 2000).…”

Immunohistochemical expression of biglycan and decorin in the pulp tissue of human primary teeth during resorption

“…13,14 In addition, these proteoglycans have been studied in inflamed human periodontium 15 and in odontogenic tumors. 9 Biglycan and decorin are SLRPs that contain two vine serum albumin in Tris-HCL, pH 7.4, instead of the primary antibody.…”