Pentosan polysulfate sodium promotes redifferentiation to the original phenotype in micromass-cultured canine articular chondrocytes and exerts molecular weight-dependent effects

Wang Y, Sunaga T, Mwale C, Akaraphutiporn E, Kim S, Okumura M · The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science

Chain length changes what the drug does: PPS pushed dedifferentiated chondrocytes back toward the cartilage phenotype — type II collagen, aggrecan and SOX9 up, proteoglycan deposition up — and did so more strongly at higher molecular weight, with the 1,500 Da fraction doing nothing and the 5,000 and 7,000 Da fractions carrying the significant effects; flow cytometry showed no apoptosis or necrosis at any size, although MTT viability fell with concentration and chain length, which the authors read as slowed proliferation. The 7,000 Da fraction also raised type I collagen, the fibrocartilage marker.

Population

Micromass-cultured articular chondrocytes from five dogs

Intervention

PPS fractions of 1,500 to 7,000 Da

Comparator

Untreated micromass cultures

Limitations

Cell culture, canine cells from five dogs, and the largest fraction's type I collagen rise is a caveat the anabolic reading has to carry; the practical implication is that PPS preparations differing in size distribution are not interchangeable. JST-funded; no conflicts declared.