Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 31 2001 31–40 www.elsevier.comlocateibmb
Sulfated glycosaminoglycans from ovary of Rhodnius prolixus
Adilson Costa-Filho
a, b
, Claudio C. Werneck
a, b
, Luiz E. Nasciutti
c
, Hatisaburo Masuda
b
, Georgia C. Atella
b
, Luiz-Claudio F. Silva
a, b,
a
Laborato´rio de Tecido Conjuntivo, Hospital Universita´rio Clementino Fraga Filho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
b
Departamento de Bioquı´mica Me´dica, Instituto de Cieˆncias Biome´dicas, Centro de Cieˆncias da Sau´de, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Caixa Postal 68041, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
c
Departamento de Histologia e Embriologia, Instituto de Cieˆncias Biome´dicas, Centro de Cieˆncias da Sau´de, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Caixa Postal 68041, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Received 4 January 2000; received in revised form 8 May 2000; accepted 8 May 2000
Abstract
We have characterized sulfated glycosaminoglycans from ovaries of the blood-sucking insect Rhodnius prolixus, and determined parameters of their synthesis and distribution within this organ by biochemical and histochemical procedures. The major sulfated
glycosaminoglycan is heparan sulfate while chondroitin 4–sulfate is a minor component. These glycosaminoglycans are concentrated in the ovarian tissue and are not found inside the oocytes. Besides this, we detected the presence of a sulfated compound dis-
tinguished from sulfated glycosaminoglycans and possibly derived from sulfated proteins. Conversely to the compartmental location of sulfated glycosaminoglycans, the unidentified sulfated compound is located in the ovarian tissue as well as inside the oocytes.
Based on these and other findings, the possible roles of ovarian sulfated glycosaminoglycans on the process of oogenesis in these insects are discussed.
2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Sulfated glycosaminoglycans; Heparan sulfate; Chondroitin sulfate; Sulfated proteins; Oogenesis; Rhodnius prolixus
1. Introduction
Proteoglycans are complex macromolecules that each contains a core protein with one or more covalently
bound glycosaminoglycan chains. Glycosaminoglycans are linear polymers of repeating disaccharides that con-
tain one hexosamine and either a carboxylated or a sulf- ate ester, or usually both. These molecules can be found
inside cells, on the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix of a wide variety of vertebrate and invertebrate
tissues Cassaro and Dietrich, 1977; Nader et al., 1999. Their strategic location and highly charged nature make
them important biological players in cell–cell and cell–
Abbreviations: α
– DGlcUA
=α –
D
4,5
–unsaturated glucuronic acid; Gal- NAc
= N–acetylated
galactosamine; GalNAc4SO
4
and GalNAc6SO
4
= derivatives of N–acetylated galactosamine bearing a
sulfate ester at position 4 and at position 6, respectively; HPLC =
high pressure liquid chromatography; SAX
= strong anion exchange.
Corresponding author. Address to: Departamento de Bioquı´mica Me´dica, Instituto de Cieˆncias Biome´dicas. Fax:
+ 55-21-270-8647.
E-mail address: lclaudiohucff.ufrj.br L.-C.F. Silva.
0965-174801 - see front matter
2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 9 6 5 - 1 7 4 8 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 - 6
matrix interactions that take place during normal and pathological events, related to organogenesis in embry-
onic development, cell recognition, adhesion, migration, regulation of growth factor action and lipid metabolism
Gallagher, 1989; Alvarez-Silva et al., 1993; Salmivirta et al., 1996; Lindahl et al., 1998; Garcia-Abreu et al.,
2000.
Insect tissues contain glycosaminoglycans and the presence of these molecules in various amounts and
types in different tissues and species has been described Hoglund, 1976a; Dietrich et al., 1987; Francois, 1989;
Cambiazo and Inestrosa, 1990. In particular, Dietrich et al. 1987 have reported that instar nymphs of the hemip-
teran Rhodnius prolixus actively synthesize sulfated gly- cosaminoglycans. However, qualitative and quantitative
biochemical data on the precise localization and charac- terization of glycosaminoglycans within specific tissues
of these insects are limited.
In order to address this important issue, the present work was undertaken to obtain precise information con-
cerning the glycosaminoglycans in hemipteran insects. Therefore, we investigated the glycosaminoglycan com-
32 A. Costa-Filho et al. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 31 2001 31–40
position of isolated ovaries of the blood-sucking hemip- teran Rhodnius prolixus. Another aim of this study was
to determine the relative contribution of the ovarian tissue and of the oocytes to the synthesis and accumu-
lation of the sulfated glycosaminoglycans.
Our results show that ovaries of R. prolixus produce sulfated compounds corresponding to sulfated glycosam-
inoglycans identified as heparan sulfate and chondroitin 4–sulfate. In addition, we have demonstrated by bio-
chemical and histochemical analysis that these molecules are concentrated in the ovarian tissue. Besides this, we
provided preliminary evidence to the presence of another class of sulfated compounds distinguished from sulfated
glycosaminoglycans within the ovaries of these insects. To our knowledge, this is the first detailed description
of the presence of sulfated compounds, in particular, sul- fated glycosaminoglycans in ovaries of a blood-feed-
ing insect.
2. Materials and methods
