To study the process of tissue remodeling that occurs during wound healing, radioactive proteoglycan ([35S]-PGS) was used to assay for enzymatic activities present in the extracellular fluid of healing tissue. Mice, wounded by removal of a 2 x 1.5 cm patch of skin from the dorsal surface, were sacrificed after 3 days of healing. Granulation tissue (1 cm2) was removed, spread onto a sterile wire mesh support and placed in the center well of an organ culture dish. To each well was added 1 ml MCDB medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum and antibiotics and 5-20 microliters of [35S]-PGS (100,000 cpm/10 microliters). Medium, removed from the well by aspiration after 24 and 48 h of culture, was boiled 5 min at 100 degrees C and stored frozen at -20 degrees C. Alterations of the PGS were assayed with a Sepharose 4B column (1 x 50 cm) which had an excluded and included volume of 17 and 46 ml, respectively. PGS, incubated without cells or with tissues from unwounded animals, eluted at 26 ml. PGS, incubated with granulation tissue and cultured for either 24 or 48 h, eluted from the Sepharose 4B at 29 ml, a 10% increase in elution volume, suggesting that the size or shape of the PGS has been altered by enzymes secreted by the cells of the granulation tissue. In contrast, PGS incubated with tissues from unwounded animals or without granulation tissue showed no changes. These data suggest that enzymatic activities secreted by cells of granulation tissue may be involved in remodeling during healing.