Hyaluronan: The jekyll and hyde molecule
Hyaluronan: The jekyll and hyde molecule
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DOI：
10.2174/187152806779010936
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发表时间：
2006-12-01
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Nadkarni, Priya P.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Cantor, Jerome O.;Nadkarni, Priya P.
透明质酸（HA）是一种长度可变的长链多糖，含有葡萄糖醛酸和N-乙酰葡糖胺的重复二糖单元。长期以来被认为是细胞外基质的相对惰性组分，基于其最近发现的调节炎症的作用，HA现在正作为许多不同疾病的潜在治疗剂受到审查。HA对炎症反应的影响似乎与其分子大小有关，较大的多糖链具有抗炎活性，较小的多糖链具有促炎特性。这种二分行为对寻求利用这种分子的有益作用的研究人员提出了挑战。治疗性施用的HA快速分解成较小的碎片可能会对患病组织造成进一步的损伤。考虑到这一局限性，作者讨论了他们自己使用HA治疗实验诱导的肺部疾病，然后提出了最大限度地发挥这种分子治疗潜力的可能方法。
Hyaluronan (HA) is a variable length, long-chain polysaccharide containing repeating disaccharide units of glucuronic acid and n-acetylglucosamine. Long considered a relatively inert component of the extracellular matrix, HA is now coming under scrutiny as a potential therapeutic agent for a number of different diseases, based on its recently discovered role in modulating inflammation. The effect of HA on the inflammatory response appears to be related to its molecular size, with larger polysaccharide chains having anti-inflammatory activity and smaller ones having proinflammatory properties. This dichotomous behavior presents a challenge to investigators seeking to harness the beneficial effects of this molecule. Rapid breakdown of therapeutically administered HA into smaller fragments may conceivably cause further injury to diseased tissues. With this limitation in mind, the authors discuss their own use of HA to treat experimentally induced lung disease, then suggest possible ways of maximizing the therapeutic potential of this molecule.