Effects of wheat germ agglutinin and concanavalin A on the accumulation of glycosaminoglycans in pericellular matrix of human dermal fibroblasts. A comparison with insulin

The ef fect of in su lin, wheat aerm ag glu ti nin (WGA), pea nut ag glu ti nin (PNA) and concanavalin A (ConA) on [ 3H]glucosamine incorporation into pericellular glyco­saminoglycans (GAGs) was investigated in two lines of cultured human dermal fibroblasts. Insulin and WGA stimulated [3H]glucosamine incorporation into hyalu­ronic acid (HA) and heparan sul phate (HS) with out any al ter ation of chondroitin sul­phate (CS) and dermatan sul phate (DS) con tents. ConA in creased [ 3H]glucosamine in- cor po ra tion into HS, CS and DS, but had no ef fect on [ 3H]glucosamine in cor po ra tion into HA. PNA af fected nei ther the con tent, nor the com po si tion of GAGs. In con trast to PNA, ConA and WGA stimulated glycolysis and demonstrated an evident anti­proliferative ef fect on der mal fibroblasts. Thus, both the in su lin-like ac tion of WGA and ConA on cul tured der mal fibroblasts and the dif fer ences be tween the ef fects of lectins on mod u la tion of GAGs syn the sis ap pear to be de ter mined by their chem i cal structure.