The Detailed Structural Characterization of Chemically Modified Glycosaminoglycans is Absolutely Essential to Explain Potential Biological Effects

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex, highly organized tissue that is omnipresent in all vertebrates. Although the ECM is studied since many years by biochemical and biophysical methods [1] from the viewpoint of basic sciences, the increasing interest in ECM is nowadays coming from the considerable medical relevance of the ECM [2] and the increasing relevance of “regenerative medicine” [3]. In addition to obvious injuries such as skin burns, bone fractures, or mechanical cartilage injuries, many ECM-related diseases are also accompanied by inflammatory processes. Physicians define the “cardinal” symptoms of inflammation as the occurrence of pain, swelling, redness, heat, and loss of tissue function. From a more (bio) chemical view point, however, inflammatory processes are initiated by the infiltration of typical inflammation cells such as macrophages or neutrophils: these cells generate upon stimulation “reactive oxygen species” (ROS) such as hydroxyl radicals (HO•) or hypochlorous acid (HOCl) in addition to the release of a multitude of proteolytic enzymes such as elastase or collagenase which are all capable of degrading the different components of the ECM [4]. Despite the significant socioeconomic relevance [4], there is so far no perfect cure of ECM-related diseases!