Lisa Smart

The endothelial glycocalyx (EG) is a carbohydrate-rich scaffold of proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans on the luminal surface of endothelial cells. The main proteoglycans are the syndecans (Figure 1). These structures are transmembrane and play a role in transmitting shear stress signals to the cytoskeleton of the endothelial cell and also changing their binding capacity according to intracellular signalling pathway activation. They also provide an anchor for glycocoaminoglycans such as heparan sulfate. Another important glycosaminoglycan is hyaluronan, which weaves its way through the glycocalyx and is anchored by cell surface receptors such as CD44.