Hyaluronan was first described as the mucus of the vitreous body of the eye (1). Its deduced
structure revealed an acidic glycosaminoglycan made entirely of a repeating disaccharide
(D-glucuronic acid ß-1, 3-N-acetylglucosamine-ß1, 4)(2), which exists in vivo as a polyanion.
The ability to synthesize hyaluronan is probably a comparatively recent innovation in the
evolution of metazoan organisms (3), but it is also present in the capsule of some
pathogenic bacteria. Molecules of hyaluronan are generally of very high molecular mass …