We report here the first evidence for the interaction of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) with hyaluronan (HA) in aqueous solutions. PEG–HA complexes (K_app = 45,000 ± 8000 M^–1) contained about 3.3 ± 0.1 of ethylene glycol units per disaccharide of HA. The carboxyl of the D-glucuronic acid and the amide of the N-acetyl-D-glucosamine did not participate in PEG binding. Similar experiments performed with dextran and monosaccharides showed that multiple free primary hydroxyls regularly distributed along the polysaccharide chain are necessary for PEG binding. Another novelty of our study is contraction of HA upon PEG binding. The effect was observed with HA in solution or adsorbed on positively charged liposomes. The thickness of the HA layer on the liposomes decreased 2-fold upon PEG addition. HA compaction induced by PEG may underlie the changes in the plasma membrane properties and resealing of mechanical injuries induced by Pluronics.

中文翻译：

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聚乙二醇与透明质酸在水介质中相互作用

我们在这里报告的聚乙二醇（PEG）与透明质酸（HA）在水溶液中相互作用的第一个证据。PEG–HA复合物（K _app = 45,000±8000 M ^–1）每个HA的二糖含有约3.3±0.1的乙二醇单元。D-葡糖醛酸的羧基和N-乙酰基-D-葡糖胺的酰胺不参与PEG结合。用葡聚糖和单糖进行的类似实验表明，沿着多糖链规则分布的多个游离伯羟基对于PEG结合是必需的。我们研究的另一个新颖之处是HA在PEG结合后收缩。用溶液中或吸附在带正电荷的脂质体上的HA观察到了效果。加入PEG后，脂质体上HA层的厚度降低了2倍。PEG引起的HA压实可能是质膜特性变化和Pluronics引起的机械损伤重新密封的基础。