A few mechanisms might explain the DC phenotype induced by an alteration in the sulfation of HS or the absence of a major proteoglycan that tethers the glycan to the DC surface. Firstly, a simple alteration in the anionic state of sulfated domains on HS chains may be essential for disrupting the binding to multiple chemokines or for altering the chemokine ligand-receptor interaction [4]. Secondly, it has been previously demonstrated that loss of cell surface HS chains may be associated with either increased shedding of syndecan-1 and/or syndecan-4 (as demonstrated in multiple human and mouse cell lines) or a marked increase in core protein synthesis. The increased shedding could be secondary to an enhanced proteolytic cleavage of the HSPG core protein by matrix metalloproteinases [50,51]. Curiously, increased shedding could also lead to changes in the DC microenvironment that may indirectly alter DC maturation, as soluble proteoglycans have been shown to induce maturation of DCs by acting as direct TLR4 agonists [14–16]