Isolation, Purification, and Analysis of Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycans

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses widely applicable procedures for the purification and characterization of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs), using several typical CSPG species as examples. The purification of CSPGs is an essential step to determine the structure and function of CSPGs. The number, length, and extent of the sulfation of chondroitin sulfate (CS) side chains of an individual CSPG vary in general depending on the developmental or pathological stages of tissues from which the CSPG is isolated, and biological function of a CSPG is believed to be modulated by the modification or variation of its CS side chains. Although a CSPG can be expressed in mammalian cell lines by the transfection of its core protein gene, the expressed CSPG does not always have CS side chains with structural parameters identical to those of the CSPG in animal tissues. Therefore, to reveal the exact function of a CSPG in the development, maintenance, or pathogenesis of a tissue, it is ideal to isolate the CSPG from the corresponding tissue and to apply it to an experimental system of functional analyses.