Proteoglycans in Biopsies of Dupuytren’s Contracutre

Proteoglycans were first described in cartilage as molecules containing chondroitin sulfate firmly bound to noncollagenous proteins (Shatton and Schubert 1954). In the following four decades intensive investigations on the structure and function of these molecules resulted in the discovery of multiple forms and families of proteoglyans. Later studies more specifically defined what proteoglycans are. In 1982 proteoglycans were stated to be a group of macromolecules consisting of a core protein to which at least one glycosaminoglycan side chain was covalently bound (Hascall and Kimura 1982). Proteoglycans occur predominantly in the extracellular matrix and as a constituent of cell membranes and within cells. However, little is currently known about these proteoglycans with respect to Dupuytren’s disease.