HPSE and interstitial cystitis: We found that heparanase 1 (HPSE) and syndecan-1 (SDC-1), syndecan-2 (SDC-2) and syndecan-4 (SDC-4) within the SDC family were up-regulated in the interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) tissues (Fig 2A and 2B).