Proteoglycan biosynthesis by rabbit articular chondrocytes treated withd-penicillamine

Rabbit articular chondrocytes in confluent monolayer cultures were treated withd-Penicillamine (d-Pen) during 3 or 5 days. The [35S]-sulfate incorporation in neosynthesized proteoglycans was not modified byd-Pen doses ranging from 50 to 800 μg/ml. After treatment during 5 days withd-Pen concentrations of 50 or 400 μg/ml, the chemical characteristics of proteoglycans from medium and cell-layer were determined. The aggregation capacity of proteoglycans from medium, the monomer molecular size, the glycosaminoglycan chain length and the relative rates of the different glycosaminoglycans (chondroitins, chondroitin 6-sulfate, chondroitin 4-sulfate, hyaluronic acid) remained unchanged. These results suggest thatd-Pen does not alter some of the cartilage mechanical properties due to the presence of proteoglycans.