Differential heparan sulfate chain modification can occur through a number of regulatory signals. Perlecan in the growth plate of mouse long bones shows glycosylation changes in the chondrocyte progression from the resting zone to the proliferating zone. Although initially the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains of perlecan were thought to be exclusively heparan sulfate, chondroitin sulfate chains can be substituted during specific regulatory cues. By expressing a recombinant form of the N-terminal domain I of the protein and demonstrating that digestion of the peptide with either heparanase or chondroitinase did not lead to complete loss of the peptide's activity, it was shown that chondroitin sulfate chains can be added to human perlecan. This was in agreement with previous data showing chondroitin sulfate GAG chains attached to bovine perlecan produced by chondrocytes and that recombinant human domain I protein was glycosylated with both heparan and chondroitin sulfate chains when expressed in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells. The preferential addition of heparan sulfate or chondroitin sulfate chains to domains I and V could have an effect on the differentiation of mesenchymal tissues into cartilage, bone or any number of tissues, but the regulatory mechanism of changing from heparan sulfate to chondroitin sulfate addition are not well understood.