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Repifermin, a truncated form of fibroblast growth factor-10 (FGF-10) also known as keratinocyte growth factor-2 (KGF-2), is a heparin-binding protein with potent regenerative properties. The protein unfolds and aggregates at relatively low temperature (~37 °C). Electrostatic interactions between polyanions and several FGFs have been reported to enhance the thermal stability of these proteins. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) was grafted to the polyanions pentosan polysulfate (PPS) and dextran sulfate (DS) as an alternative means to stabilize and noncovalently PEGylate KGF-2. Physical characteristics of KGF-2:polyanion-PEG complexes were examined using a variety of methods including circular dichroism (CD), intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence, differential scanning calorimetry, and dynamic light scattering. When compared to KGF-2 alone, subtle changes in CD spectra and fluorescence emission maxima were found when KGF-2 was formulated with the synthetic PEG-polyanions. Highly PEGylated polyanions (DS-PEG5) did not bind KGF-2 as well as conjugates with fewer PEG chains. The molecular weight of PEG did not have a noticeable effect on KGF-2 binding to the various PEG-polyanion conjugates. At optimal molar ratios, PPS-PEG and DS-PEG conjugates were able to stabilize KGF-2 by increasing the melting temperature by approximately 9-17 °C. Thus, polyanion-PEG conjugates improved the stability of KGF-2 and also offered a new electrostatic PEGylation scheme that may be extrapolated to other heparin-binding proteins.

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Pentosan polysulphate (PPS), a highly negatively charged polysaccharide, is a significant inhibitor of an isoenzymic form of a cell surface protease referred to as guanidinobenzoatase GB, associated with colonic carcinoma tissues in frozen sections and free GB in solution, in a concentration-dependent manner. However PPS failed to recognise and bind to the isoenzymic form of GB associated with normal colon epithelial cell surfaces. Texas red labelled PPS (TR-PPS) binds to the tumour cell surfaces of colonic carcinoma and colonic polyps and these cells fluoresce red, whilst the normal colon cell surfaces failed to bind the TR-PPS, and hence lacked red fluorescence. Polysulphonated suramin also selectively recognised and inhibited the colonic carcinoma GB isoenzyme. The kinetic data indicated that this inhibition was not caused by a mere polyanionic effect, since highly sulphated heparin failed to show a significant inhibition of colonic carcinoma GB, however trypan blue did show 50% inhibition. Kinetic studies have also shown that PPS is a non-competitive, reversible inhibitor of colonic carcinoma GB, with an apparent Km 6.8 x 10(-7) M. Gel analysis has shown that PPS binds to another site, distinct from the active centre, and after binding PPS changed the conformation of GB. These studies suggest that TR-PPS is a potent inhibitor of colonic carcinoma GB, and can be used as a novel fluorescent probe for the location of tumour cells in frozen sections of human colon tissues. PSS could also have potential as a vehicle for the transport of cytotoxic compounds to carcinoma cells of the colon.

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Ca2+/phospholipid-dependent protein kinase (PKC) was inhibited by sulphated polysaccharides. Pentosan polysulphate (PPS) and heparin were 8-10-times more potent than dextran sulphate or heparan sulphate. Steady-state studies revealed that PPS was a competitive inhibitor with respect to ATP with an apparent Ki value of 0.32 micrograms/ml and a non-competitive inhibitor with respect to histones. In contrast, the inhibition of PKC by heparin was competitive with substrate and non-competitive with respect to ATP. The interaction of sulphated polysaccharides with the catalytic domain of PKC was further demonstrated by the absence of effect on [3H]phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate binding to the regulatory domain of PKC. Furthermore, PPS and heparin inhibited equally cAMP-dependent protein kinase and tyrosine protein kinase. Structure-function relationships indicated that the Inhibition of protein kinases by PPS and heparin fractions was highly dependent on molecular weight. Additionally, PKC-affinity chromatography revealed that a high-molecular-weight heparin fraction with strong anti-PKC activity was eluted. We set out to demonstrate that heparin and PPS, which are potent antiproliferative agents on vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC), alter intracellular PKC activity (both membrane and cytosolic). Therefore, it is suggested that the mechanism by which sulphated polysaccharides inhibit SMC growth may be by direct inhibition of PKC in SMC.

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The rat subcutaneous air pouch model was adapted to examine the in vivo degradation of implanted rabbit articular cartilage, both with and without induced air pouch inflammation, over a 7-day period. The effects of 3 drugs, glycosaminoglycan polysulfate (Arteparon), pentosan polysulfate (SP-54), and zinc-chelated pentosan polysulfate (DH-40J), on inflammation-induced cartilage degradation were also examined. Implanted articular cartilage from noninflamed air pouches showed a reduction in total proteoglycan (PG) content (as hexuronic acid), but not in PG extractability or aggregation, compared with cartilage maintained in tissue culture. The injection of peptone into the air pouch as an inflammogen caused an influx of leukocytes and plasma exudate and a reduction in implanted articular cartilage PG content, extractability, and aggregation, which was significantly greater than that which occurred in noninflamed air pouches. In vitro experiments demonstrated that peptone did not have a direct effect on cartilage PG degradation. Daily injection of Arteparon, SP-54, or DH-40J (10 mg/kg) into peptone-inflamed air pouches significantly increased the PG content, extractability, and aggregation in implanted articular cartilage, compared with that in cartilage from non-drug-treated control animals. The infiltration of leukocytes into the peptone-inflamed air pouches was significantly reduced by daily administration of Arteparon, 10 mg/kg. At an equivalent dose, DH-40J increased leukocyte numbers in the pouch fluid, whereas SP-54 had no significant effect on leukocyte accumulation.

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