Figure 1.

Induced global ablation of Tmem2 leads to rapid accumulation of HA in bodily fluid and organs.A, HA accumulation in circulating blood at day 12 and day 19 after the completion of tamoxifen treatment. Data represent means ± SD (n = 3–6 per genotype). ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗ p < 0.01 by Student's t test. B, Persistence of HMW HA in circulating blood of Tmem2^iKO mice. Plasma from Tmem2^iKO and control mice at day 19 was analyzed by agarose-gel electrophoresis and Stains-All staining. Lanes 1–3: HA molecular weight standards (from left to right: 1000 kDa, 90–110 kDa, 8–15 kDa). Lane 4: Total HA pooled from ten control mice. Lanes 5 and 6: Total HA from two independent Tmem2^iKO mice. Note that lane 4 was loaded with excess amount of total HA in order to demonstrate that essentially no undigested HMW HA is present in blood of control mice. Lanes 7–10: Control experiments to show that the HMW bands in lanes 5, 6, and 9 (indicated by arrowheads) are indeed HA. Plasma samples were pretreated with (+) or without (–) Streptomyces hyaluronidase (HAase) prior to electrophoresis. C, HA accumulation in the lymph nodes, liver, lung, and kidney at day 19 after the completion of tamoxifen treatment. Data represent means ± SD (n = 3–4 per genotype). ∗ p < 0.05, ∗∗ p < 0.01 by Student's t test.