Calcification XIV. Investigation of the Role of Chondroitin Sulfate in the Calcifying Mechanism.

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Toluidine blue and protamine, like inorganic cations, produce a reversible inactivation of the mechanism of calcification. This inactivation is a function of the inhibitor to Ca ratio. Up to a concentration of about 15 meq/1, Ca ion in the dye solution increases the intensity of metachromatic staining. Above this concentration there is a gradual decrease of metachromasia. Under certain conditions, the calcifiability of bone sections parallels meta-chromasia. But it is possible, by raising the Ca ion concentration, to destroy metachromasia while increasing calcifiability, or by treatment with certain protein denaturants, to destroy calcifiability while enhancing metachromasia. Synthetic chondroitin sulfate-collagen complexes were found to exhibit behavior similar to that of rachitic bone cartilage with regard to metachromasia and calcifiability. Results obtained with chondroitin sulfate, collagen, and chondroitin sulfate-collagen complexes, indicate that such complexes behave in a manner homologous to the actual calcification mechanism and support the hypothesis that they are involved in calcification.