Glycocalyx | |
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Identifiers | |
MeSH | D019276 |
TH | H1.00.01.1.00002 |
FMA | 66838 |
Anatomical terms of microanatomy |
The glycocalyx (pl.: glycocalyces or glycocalyxes), also known as the pericellular matrix and cell coat, is a layer of glycoproteins and glycolipids which surround the cell membranes of bacteria, epithelial cells, and other cells. It was described in a review article in 1970. [1]
Animal epithelial cells have a fuzz-like coating on the external surface of their plasma membranes. This viscous coating is the glycocalyx that consists of several carbohydrate moieties of membrane glycolipids and glycoproteins, which serve as backbone molecules for support. Generally, the carbohydrate portion of the glycolipids found on the surface of plasma membranes helps these molecules contribute to cell–cell recognition, communication, and intercellular adhesion. [2]
The glycocalyx is a type of identifier that the body uses to distinguish between its own healthy cells and transplanted tissues, diseased cells, or invading organisms. Included in the glycocalyx are cell-adhesion molecules that enable cells to adhere to each other and guide the movement of cells during embryonic development. [3] The glycocalyx plays a major role in regulation of endothelial vascular tissue, including the modulation of red blood cell volume in capillaries. [4]
The term was initially applied to the polysaccharide matrix coating epithelial cells, but its functions have been discovered to go well beyond that.
The glycocalyx is located on the apical surface of vascular endothelial cells which line the lumen. When vessels are stained with cationic dyes such as Alcian blue stain, transmission electron microscopy shows a small, irregularly shaped layer extending approximately 50–100 nm into the lumen of a blood vessel. Another study used osmium tetroxide staining during freeze substitution, and showed that the endothelial glycocalyx could be up to 11 μm thick. [5] It is present throughout a diverse range of microvascular beds (capillaries) and macrovessels (arteries and veins). The glycocalyx also consists of a wide range of enzymes and proteins that regulate leukocyte and thrombocyte adherence, since its principal role in the vasculature is to maintain plasma and vessel-wall homeostasis. These enzymes and proteins include:
The enzymes and proteins listed above serve to reinforce the glycocalyx barrier against vascular and other diseases. Another main function of the glycocalyx within the vascular endothelium is that it shields the vascular walls from direct exposure to blood flow, while serving as a vascular permeability barrier. [6] Its protective functions are universal throughout the vascular system, but its relative importance varies depending on its exact location in the vasculature. In microvascular tissue, the glycocalyx serves as a vascular permeability barrier by inhibiting coagulation and leukocyte adhesion. Leukocytes must not stick to the vascular wall because they are important components of the immune system that must be able to travel to a specific region of the body when needed. In arterial vascular tissue, the glycocalyx also inhibits coagulation and leukocyte adhesion, but through mediation of shear stress-induced nitric oxide release. Another protective function throughout the cardiovascular system is its ability to affect the filtration of interstitial fluid from capillaries into the interstitial space. [7]
The glycocalyx, which is located on the apical surface of endothelial cells, is composed of a negatively charged network of proteoglycans, glycoproteins, and glycolipids. [8] Along the luminal surface of the vascular glycocalyx exists an empty layer that excludes red blood cells. [9]
Because the glycocalyx is so prominent throughout the cardiovascular system, disruption to this structure has detrimental effects that can cause disease. Certain stimuli that cause atheroma may lead to enhanced sensitivity of vasculature. Initial dysfunction of the glycocalyx can be caused by hyperglycemia or oxidized low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), which then causes atherothrombosis. In microvasculature, dysfunction of the glycocalyx leads to internal fluid imbalance, and potentially edema. In arterial vascular tissue, glycocalyx disruption causes inflammation and atherothrombosis. [10]
Experiments have been performed to test precisely how the glycocalyx can be altered or damaged. One particular study used an isolated perfused heart model designed to facilitate detection of the state of the vascular barrier portion, and sought to cause insult-induced shedding of the glycocalyx to ascertain the cause-and-effect relationship between glycocalyx shedding and vascular permeability. Hypoxic perfusion of the glycocalyx was thought to be sufficient to initiate a degradation mechanism of the endothelial barrier. The study found that flow of oxygen throughout the blood vessels did not have to be completely absent (ischemic hypoxia), but that minimal[ clarification needed ] levels of oxygen were sufficient to cause the degradation. Shedding of the glycocalyx can be triggered by inflammatory stimuli, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Whatever the stimulus is, however, shedding of the glycocalyx leads to a drastic[ clarification needed ] increase in vascular permeability. Vascular walls being permeable is disadvantageous, since that would enable passage of some macromolecules or other harmful antigens. [11]
Other sources of damage to the endothelial glycocalyx have been observed in several pathological conditions such as inflammation, [12] hyperglycemia, [13] ischemia-reperfusion, [14] viral infections [15] and sepsis. [16]
Some key components of the glycocalyx such as syndecans, heparan sulphate, chondroitin sulphate and hyaluronan can be shed of the endothelial layer by enzymes. Hyaluronidase, hepararanse/heparinase, matrix and membrane-type matrix metalloproteases, thrombin, plasmin and elastase are some examples of enzymes that can induce shedding of the glycocalyx and these sheddases can therefor contribute to degradation of the glycocalyx layer in several pathological conditions. [17] Research shows that plasma hyaluronidase activity is decreased in experimental as well as in clinical septic shock and is therefore not considered to be a sheddase in sepsis. [18] Concomitant, the endogenous plasma inhibition of hyaluronidase is increased and could serve as a protection against glycocalyx shedding.
Fluid shear stress is also a potential problem if the glycocalyx is degraded for any reason. This type of frictional stress is caused by the movement of viscous fluid (i.e. blood) along the lumen boundary. Another similar experiment was carried out to determine what kinds of stimuli cause fluid shear stress. The initial measurement was taken with intravital microscopy, which showed a slow-moving plasma layer, the glycocalyx, of 1 μm thick. Light dye damaged the glycocalyx minimally, but that small change increased capillary hematocrit. Thus, fluorescence light microscopy should not be used to study the glycocalyx because that particular method uses a dye. The glycocalyx can also be reduced in thickness when treated with oxidized LDL. [19] These stimuli, along with many other factors, can cause damage to the delicate glycocalyx. These studies are evidence that the glycocalyx plays a crucial role in cardiovascular system health.
A glycocalyx, literally meaning "sugar coat" (glykys = sweet, kalyx = husk), is a network of polysaccharides that project from cellular surfaces of bacteria, which classifies it as a universal surface component of a bacterial cell, found just outside the bacterial cell wall. A distinct, gelatinous glycocalyx is called a capsule, whereas an irregular, diffuse layer is called a slime layer. This coat is extremely hydrated and stains with ruthenium red.
Bacteria growing in natural ecosystems, such as in soil, bovine intestines, or the human urinary tract, are surrounded by some sort of glycocalyx-enclosed microcolony. [20] It serves to protect the bacterium from harmful phagocytes by creating capsules or allowing the bacterium to attach itself to inert surfaces, such as teeth or rocks, via biofilms (e.g. Streptococcus pneumoniae attaches itself to either lung cells, prokaryotes, or other bacteria which can fuse their glycocalices to envelop the colony).
A glycocalyx can also be found on the apical portion of microvilli within the digestive tract, especially within the small intestine. It creates a meshwork 0.3 μm thick and consists of acidic mucopolysaccharides and glycoproteins that project from the apical plasma membrane of epithelial absorptive cells. It provides additional surface for adsorption and includes enzymes secreted by the absorptive cells that are essential for the final steps of digestion of proteins and sugars.
A biological membrane, biomembrane or cell membrane is a selectively permeable membrane that separates the interior of a cell from the external environment or creates intracellular compartments by serving as a boundary between one part of the cell and another. Biological membranes, in the form of eukaryotic cell membranes, consist of a phospholipid bilayer with embedded, integral and peripheral proteins used in communication and transportation of chemicals and ions. The bulk of lipids in a cell membrane provides a fluid matrix for proteins to rotate and laterally diffuse for physiological functioning. Proteins are adapted to high membrane fluidity environment of the lipid bilayer with the presence of an annular lipid shell, consisting of lipid molecules bound tightly to the surface of integral membrane proteins. The cell membranes are different from the isolating tissues formed by layers of cells, such as mucous membranes, basement membranes, and serous membranes.
A capillary is a small blood vessel, from 5 to 10 micrometres in diameter, and is part of the microcirculation system. Capillaries are microvessels and the smallest blood vessels in the body. They are composed of only the tunica intima, consisting of a thin wall of simple squamous endothelial cells. They are the site of the exchange of many substances from the surrounding interstitial fluid, and they convey blood from the smallest branches of the arteries (arterioles) to those of the veins (venules). Other substances which cross capillaries include water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, urea, glucose, uric acid, lactic acid and creatinine. Lymph capillaries connect with larger lymph vessels to drain lymphatic fluid collected in microcirculation.
Angiogenesis is the physiological process through which new blood vessels form from pre-existing vessels, formed in the earlier stage of vasculogenesis. Angiogenesis continues the growth of the vasculature mainly by processes of sprouting and splitting, but processes such as coalescent angiogenesis, vessel elongation and vessel cooption also play a role. Vasculogenesis is the embryonic formation of endothelial cells from mesoderm cell precursors, and from neovascularization, although discussions are not always precise. The first vessels in the developing embryo form through vasculogenesis, after which angiogenesis is responsible for most, if not all, blood vessel growth during development and in disease.
The renin-angiotensin system (RAS), or renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), is a hormone system that regulates blood pressure, fluid, and electrolyte balance, and systemic vascular resistance.
The microcirculation is the circulation of the blood in the smallest blood vessels, the microvessels of the microvasculature present within organ tissues. The microvessels include terminal arterioles, metarterioles, capillaries, and venules. Arterioles carry oxygenated blood to the capillaries, and blood flows out of the capillaries through venules into veins.
Vasodilation, also known as vasorelaxation, is the widening of blood vessels. It results from relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, in particular in the large veins, large arteries, and smaller arterioles. Blood vessel walls are composed of endothelial tissue and a basal membrane lining the lumen of the vessel, concentric smooth muscle layers on top of endothelial tissue, and an adventitia over the smooth muscle layers. Relaxation of the smooth muscle layer allows the blood vessel to dilate, as it is held in a semi-constricted state by sympathetic nervous system activity. Vasodilation is the opposite of vasoconstriction, which is the narrowing of blood vessels.
The endothelium is a single layer of squamous endothelial cells that line the interior surface of blood vessels and lymphatic vessels. The endothelium forms an interface between circulating blood or lymph in the lumen and the rest of the vessel wall.
The lymphatic vessels are thin-walled vessels (tubes), structured like blood vessels, that carry lymph. As part of the lymphatic system, lymph vessels are complementary to the cardiovascular system. Lymph vessels are lined by endothelial cells, and have a thin layer of smooth muscle, and adventitia that binds the lymph vessels to the surrounding tissue. Lymph vessels are devoted to the propulsion of the lymph from the lymph capillaries, which are mainly concerned with the absorption of interstitial fluid from the tissues. Lymph capillaries are slightly bigger than their counterpart capillaries of the vascular system. Lymph vessels that carry lymph to a lymph node are called afferent lymph vessels, and those that carry it from a lymph node are called efferent lymph vessels, from where the lymph may travel to another lymph node, may be returned to a vein, or may travel to a larger lymph duct. Lymph ducts drain the lymph into one of the subclavian veins and thus return it to general circulation.
The glomerulus is a network of small blood vessels (capillaries) known as a tuft, located at the beginning of a nephron in the kidney. Each of the two kidneys contains about one million nephrons. The tuft is structurally supported by the mesangium, composed of intraglomerular mesangial cells. The blood is filtered across the capillary walls of this tuft through the glomerular filtration barrier, which yields its filtrate of water and soluble substances to a cup-like sac known as Bowman's capsule. The filtrate then enters the renal tubule of the nephron.
The Starling principle holds that extracellular fluid movements between blood and tissues are determined by differences in hydrostatic pressure and colloid osmotic pressure between plasma inside microvessels and interstitial fluid outside them. The Starling equation, proposed many years after the death of Starling, describes that relationship in mathematical form and can be applied to many biological and non-biological semipermeable membranes. The classic Starling principle and the equation that describes it have in recent years been revised and extended.
Glycolipids are lipids with a carbohydrate attached by a glycosidic (covalent) bond. Their role is to maintain the stability of the cell membrane and to facilitate cellular recognition, which is crucial to the immune response and in the connections that allow cells to connect to one another to form tissues. Glycolipids are found on the surface of all eukaryotic cell membranes, where they extend from the phospholipid bilayer into the extracellular environment.
Hyaluronidases are a family of enzymes that catalyse the degradation of hyaluronic acid. Karl Meyer classified these enzymes in 1971, into three distinct groups, a scheme based on the enzyme reaction products. The three main types of hyaluronidases are two classes of eukaryotic endoglycosidase hydrolases and a prokaryotic lyase-type of glycosidase.
Pericytes are multi-functional mural cells of the microcirculation that wrap around the endothelial cells that line the capillaries throughout the body. Pericytes are embedded in the basement membrane of blood capillaries, where they communicate with endothelial cells by means of both direct physical contact and paracrine signaling. The morphology, distribution, density and molecular fingerprints of pericytes vary between organs and vascular beds. Pericytes help to maintain homeostatic and hemostatic functions in the brain, one of the organs with higher pericyte coverage, and also sustain the blood–brain barrier. These cells are also a key component of the neurovascular unit, which includes endothelial cells, astrocytes, and neurons. Pericytes have been postulated to regulate capillary blood flow and the clearance and phagocytosis of cellular debris in vitro. Pericytes stabilize and monitor the maturation of endothelial cells by means of direct communication between the cell membrane as well as through paracrine signaling. A deficiency of pericytes in the central nervous system can cause increased permeability of the blood–brain barrier.
Protease-activated receptors (PAR) are a subfamily of related G protein-coupled receptors that are activated by cleavage of part of their extracellular domain. They are highly expressed in platelets, and also on endothelial cells, fibroblasts, immune cells, myocytes, neurons, and tissues that line the gastrointestinal tract.
E-selectin, also known as CD62 antigen-like family member E (CD62E), endothelial-leukocyte adhesion molecule 1 (ELAM-1), or leukocyte-endothelial cell adhesion molecule 2 (LECAM2), is a selectin cell adhesion molecule expressed only on endothelial cells activated by cytokines. Like other selectins, it plays an important part in inflammation. In humans, E-selectin is encoded by the SELE gene.
In immunology, leukocyte extravasation is the movement of leukocytes out of the circulatory system (extravasation) and towards the site of tissue damage or infection. This process forms part of the innate immune response, involving the recruitment of non-specific leukocytes. Monocytes also use this process in the absence of infection or tissue damage during their development into macrophages.
Amine oxidase, copper containing 3 (AOC3), also known as vascular adhesion protein (VAP-1) and HPAO is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the AOC3 gene on chromosome 17. This protein is a member of the semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase family of enzymes and is associated with many vascular diseases.
Angiogenesis is the process of forming new blood vessels from existing blood vessels, formed in vasculogenesis. It is a highly complex process involving extensive interplay between cells, soluble factors, and the extracellular matrix (ECM). Angiogenesis is critical during normal physiological development, but it also occurs in adults during inflammation, wound healing, ischemia, and in pathological conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, hemangioma, and tumor growth. Proteolysis has been indicated as one of the first and most sustained activities involved in the formation of new blood vessels. Numerous proteases including matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), a disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain (ADAM), a disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain with throbospondin motifs (ADAMTS), and cysteine and serine proteases are involved in angiogenesis. This article focuses on the important and diverse roles that these proteases play in the regulation of angiogenesis.
Cell–cell interaction refers to the direct interactions between cell surfaces that play a crucial role in the development and function of multicellular organisms. These interactions allow cells to communicate with each other in response to changes in their microenvironment. This ability to send and receive signals is essential for the survival of the cell. Interactions between cells can be stable such as those made through cell junctions. These junctions are involved in the communication and organization of cells within a particular tissue. Others are transient or temporary such as those between cells of the immune system or the interactions involved in tissue inflammation. These types of intercellular interactions are distinguished from other types such as those between cells and the extracellular matrix. The loss of communication between cells can result in uncontrollable cell growth and cancer.
The cell membrane is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of a cell from the outside environment. The cell membrane consists of a lipid bilayer, made up of two layers of phospholipids with cholesterols interspersed between them, maintaining appropriate membrane fluidity at various temperatures. The membrane also contains membrane proteins, including integral proteins that span the membrane and serve as membrane transporters, and peripheral proteins that loosely attach to the outer (peripheral) side of the cell membrane, acting as enzymes to facilitate interaction with the cell's environment. Glycolipids embedded in the outer lipid layer serve a similar purpose.