Endothelial glycoconjugates: A comparative lectin study of the brain, retina and myocardium

J. G. Lawrenson, J. P. Cassella, A. J. Hayes, J. A. Firth, G. Allt

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

There is evidence that the endothelial cell (EC) glycocalyx is a significant determinant of vascular permeability, acting as a charge-size filter to permeant molecules. We have therefore examined its oligosaccharide composition in 3 classes of microvessel with differing permeabilities. EC in rat brain, retina and myocardium were labelled with a panel of lectins and subjected to a semiquantitative analysis. Surprisingly, no substantial differences were evident for any lectin labelling between the 3 microvessel types despite their marked morphophysiological diversity. In particular, all showed substantial sialic acid expression, with Maackia amurensis (MAA) labelling sialic acid in an α2-3 linkage to β-galactose and Sambucus nigra (SNA) recognising sialic acid in an α2-6 linkage to β-galactose. Arachis hypogaea (PNA) binding after neuraminidase digestion indicated the presence of Gal β1-3GalNAc attached to terminal sialic acid. The results therefore show that the sequences NeuNAc α2-3Gal β1-3GalNAc and NeuNAc α2-6Gal β1-3GalNAc are strongly expressed in the 3 microvessel types irrespective of their permeability properties. This homogeneity suggests that these lectin ligands may be involved in a common set of EC functions, e.g. cell:cell and cell:matrix interactions. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that glycocalyx differences may exist between vessels in the paracellular cleft which may alter its filtration properties.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)55-60
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Anatomy
Volume196
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2000
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Blood-brain barrier
  • Blood-retinal barrier
  • Lectins
  • Myocardial endothelial cells

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