Analysis of hyaluronan synthase activity

Abstract

Hyaluronan (HA) is a component of the extracellular matrix that is involved in many physiological and pathological processes. As HA modulates several functions (i.e., cell proliferation and migration, infl ammation), its presence in the tissues can have positive or negative effects. HA synthases (HAS) are a family of three isoenzymes located on the plasma membrane that are responsible for the production of such polysaccharide and, therefore, their activity is critical to determine the accumulation of HA in tissues. Here, we describe a nonradioactive method to quantify the HAS enzymatic activity in crude cellular membrane preparation.