Figure 2

Schematic representation of brevican cleavage by the glutamyl-endopepidases, the ADAMTSs: A: Secreted brevican core protein that bears chondroitin sulfate chains (MW > 145 kD). B: Secreted brevican core protein without chondroitin sulfate side chains (MW = 145 kD). C: When cleaved by extracellular glutamyl endopeptidases, the ADAMTSs, an N-terminal fragment of brevican (MW = 55 kD) is formed that contains the unique C-terminal epitope EAMESE. The anti-brevican antibody recognizes all three isoforms of brevican, whereas anti-EAMESE antibody selectively recognizes the ADAMTS-derived proteolytic fragment of brevican and not the parent protein or other isoforms.