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Heparin, a sulfated polysaccharide belonging to the family of glycosaminoglycans, was discovered in the beginning of the 20th century and was initially identified as a procoagulant isolated from liver tissue. After the first application in patients approximately 30 years later, further purification identified the major as well as minor, but important, component units of the complex chain mixtures constituting heparin and the multiplex actions became a scientific challenge recently. A series of “Glycosaminoglycan symposium—anticoagulant and nonanticoagulant actions” developed over the past 20 years and focused on this topic has published research data in three issues of Seminars in Thrombosis & Hemostasis and in several other international scientific journals. The latest developments on the methods of analysis, the synthesis, the degradation by heparanases and the nonanticoagulant effects in tumor growth, in anti-inflammatory diseases, and in Alzheimer diseases as presented in the 21st symposium are summarized in the present overview on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the journal with special reference to the journal's founding Editor in Chief, Eberhard F. Mammen.

We report a case of endometriosis of the round ligament in a 29-year-old woman, who complained of a lump with a diameter of about 2.5 cm in the right inguinal region, which increased in bulk and was accompanied by intense pain during the menstrual period. The clinical suspicion of inguinal endometriosis, supported by ultrasonography and Magnetic Resonance (MR), was confirmed by histological examination of the surgical specimen, which included the mass and the extraperitoneal segment of the round ligament. The authors conclude that the appearance of a lump in the inguinal region associated with subjective and objective changes of the lesion in relation to the menstrual cycle must raise the suspicion of endometriosis among the possible diagnoses.

The symmetry of the silicon crystal cell under elementary deformation is theoretically investigated. A model exploiting a linear approximation is derived for predicting the behaviour of second-order dielectric susceptibility, providing excellent agreement with experimental results.

The active site of dermatan sulfate (DS) for heparin cofactor II (HCII) was isolated in a fragment obtained by periodate oxidation, borohydride reduction, mild acid hydrolysis, and SE- and SAX-chromatography of beef mucosal and pig skin DS preparations. Characterization by mass spectrometry, one- and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy, and HPLC analysis of disaccharides, obtained by exhaustive digestion with chondroitinase-ABC, indicates that the fragment has the prevalent structure 1, GalNAc-4SO3-[IdoA-2SO3-GalNAc-4SO3]4-R, where R is CH(CH2OH)CH(COO−)-OH. 1, is the largest DS fragment thus far isolated containing IdoA2SO3 as the only uronic acid. Its lower activity (30%) with respect to the parent polymeric DS is explainable by Tollefsen model, requiring longer polyanionic chains for formation of ternary complex with thrombin.

Ammonolysis of the epoxide rings of 2,3-anhydro-α-L-guluronic acid residues, generated in alkaline medium from 2-O-sulfated α-L-iduronic acid residues of heparin, quantitatively afforded 2-amino-2-deoxy-α-L-iduronic acid residues. N-sulfation of these residues by TMA·SO3 complex led to a formal replacement of the original 2-O-sulfate groups of heparin with N-sulfates, without configurational changes. These modified uronic acid residues (no longer amenable to alkaline epoxidation) can be easily N-desulfated. The presence of negative or positive charges at position 2 of the newly generated 2-amino-2-deoxy-α-L-iduronic acid residues influences the in vivo antithrombotic activity and haemorrhagic effects in different ways. A free amino group mainly decreases the haemorrhagic properties of heparin, while a negatively charged N-sulfate group decreases the coagulation parameters.

As previously observed for model glycolipids, micellar aggregates of the ganglioside GM-1 can be disrupted by the formation of inclusion complexes with α-cyclodextrin (α-CD). Evidence for such disaggregation was obtained from narrowing and shifting of 1 H- and 13 C-NMR signals, and decreasing of 13 C-NMR relaxation times ( T 1 ) upon addition of α-CD to aqueous (D 2 O) solutions of the ganglioside. As a result of the α-CD-induced disaggregation, GM-1 becomes permeable through 100 000 Da cut-off ultrafiltration membranes (which are virtually impermeable to normal GM-1 aggregates), and can be freed from phospholipid contaminants. β-Cyclodextrin (β-CD), which gives weaker complexes with GM-1, does not produce any significant disaggregation effects. Also, fully methylated β-cyclodextrin (Meβ-CD) and hydroxyethyl-β-cyclodextrin (HEβ-CD) were ineffective. A solid complex (which precipitates from solutions at α-CD/GM-1 molar ratios > 5) was obtained, and characterized by CP/MAS 13 C-NMR spectroscopy and by DSC.

Molecular mechanics calculations (using the REFINE package) have been performed on a series of disaccharides obtained by cleavage of glycosaminoglycans with lyases, in order to examine the effect of chemical environment on the conformation of the 4,5-unsaturated uronic acid residue. The disaccharides were derived from heparin and heparan sulfate (1–5), hyaluronic acid (6), chondroitin (7), chondroitin-4-sulfate (8), and chondroitin-6-sulfate (9). The 1H NMR spectra were analysed for the above compounds and for the unsaturated uronic acid residues of a low-molecular weight E. Coli K5 polysaccharide (10), as well as for the alditol derivative (11) of compound 8; the wide variation of the interproton vicinal coupling constants as a function of configuration and position of the glycosidic linkages and of the sulfation pattern is unequivocally interpreted in terms of equilibrium between two distinct ring forms, namely 2H1 and 1H2. The equilibrium is semi-quantitatively explained by the results of the ...

Under specific basic conditions, the glucosaminoglycans heparin and heparan sulfate, containing α-L-iduronic acid 2-O-sulfate, undergo selective epoxidation between C-2 and C-3 of this residue, with formation of a residue of 2,3-anhydro-α-L-guluronic acid. The epoxidation reaction was studied by means of 13C NMR and optical rotation measurements. The optical rotation values correlate well with the composition of the reaction products as determined by 13C NMR, thus indicating that the heparin- or heparan-like character of both natural and semisynthetic polysaccharides can be easily determined also through optical rotation measurements.

Heparin preparations isolated from pig intestinal mucosa and from bovine lung were fractionated with regard to affinity for antithrombin. The resulting fractions, with high (HA) or low (LA) affinity for the proteinase inhibitor, were analyzed by 13C NMR or by identification of di- and tetrasaccharides obtained through deaminative cleavage with nitrous acid. Structural differences between corresponding HA and LA fractions were essentially restricted to minor constituents, in particular 3-O-sulfated glucosamine units that occurred (1 or 2 residues/chain) in all HA preparations but were scarce or absent in LA heparin. The HA fractions also consistently showed higher contents of nonsulfated iduronic acid and, to a lesser extent, N-acetylated glucosamine units than the LA fractions. The two tetrasaccharide sequences, -IdoA-GlcNAc(6-OSO3)-GlcA-GlcNSO3- and -IdoA-GlcNAc(6-OSO3)-GlcA-GlcNSO3(6-OSO3)- , recently implicated as part of the acceptor site for glucosaminyl 3-O-sulfate groups (Kusche, M., Backstrom, G., Riesenfeld, J., Petitou, M., Choay, J., and Lindahl, U. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 15474-15484), were identified in mucosal LA heparin; it was calculated that the preparation contained approximately one potential acceptor site/polysaccharide chain. Yet this material did not yield any labeled HA components on incubation with adenosine 3'-phosphate 5'-phospho-[35S]sulfate in the presence of glucosaminyl 3-O-sulfotransferase, solubilized from a mouse mastocytoma microsomal fraction. The failure to incorporate any 3-O-sulfate groups could conceivably be explained by the occurrence of a D-glucuronic rather than L-iduronic acid unit linked at the reducing ends of the above tetrasaccharide sequences. Alternatively, 3-O-sulfation may be restricted by other, as yet unidentified, inhibitory structural elements that are preferentially expressed in polysaccharide sequences selected for the generation of LA heparin.

Pig mucosal heparin (GAG 98), in which the binding site for antithrombin had been inactivated by periodate oxidation (GAG 262), a supersulfated low-molecular-weight heparin (GAG 869), a low-molecular-weight heparin (Fragmin®), and sodium pentosanpolysulfate have been investigated on their anticoagulant effects in vitro and ex vivo and in an animal thrombosis model in which rat mesenteric venules are damaged by defined laser energy. GAG 262 and pentosanpolysulfate had a markedly reduced anticoagulant effect compared to heparin, Fragmin, and the supersulfated low-molecular-weight heparin fragment. Similarily, the doses necessary to inhibit thrombus formation in the laser model were much higher for GAG 262 and for pentosanpolysulfate compared to heparin and the low-molecular-weight heparin Fragmin, but much lower for the supersulfated heparin fragment. The antithrombotic effect of the low-molecular-weight heparin Fragmin and the supersulfated heparin fragment after subcutaneous injection lasted much longer than the ex vivo detectable anticoagulant effect. Although some correlation between the antithrombotic and the anticoagulant effect in the laser model is evident, there seems to be no direct correlation between amount and duration of factor IIa or factor Xa inhibition and extent and duration of the inhibition of thrombus formation.

Heparins used in therapy are largely constituted by sequences of the trisulfated disaccharide L-iduronic acid-2-sulfate→D-glucosamine-N,6-disulfate. These regular sequences are interrupted by undersulfated (occasionally, oversulfated) sequences containing D-glucuronic acid and N-acetylated D-glucosamine. Different heparin sequences are binding domains for heparin cofactors and plasma proteins. The active site for antithrombin is a specific pentasaccharide sequence containing 3-O-sulfated D-glucosamine. Heparin cofactor-II binds, less specifically, mostly to the regular sequences. The conformational flexibility of iduronic acid residues contributes to the binding versatility and to the ‘biological reactivity’ of heparin.

A case of pio-pneumothorax complicating a splenic flexure colonic carcinoma is herein presented. The patient was a 58 years old male and was submitted 3 months earlier to a colo-colic bypass for a locally advanced tumor infiltrating stomach, spleen, tail of the pancreas and left emidiaphragm. Few days before the admittance in our ward, he experienced fever, anorexia, and severe dispnoea. Treatment was a water seal drainage of the chest evacuating nearly 8 Liters of purulent material where Escherichia coli was found. Death occurred 2 weeks after drainage. From the analysis of the literature thoracic empyema is an extremely rare complication of colonic carcinoma: 5 other cases have been reported so far. Pathogenesis in half of the cases was due to septicemia and in the others to infectious local spreading.

The interaction, in aqueous solution, of the synthetic pentasaccharide AGA*IA(M) (GlcN,6-SO(3)alpha 1-4GlcA beta 1-4GlcN,3,6-SO(3)alpha 1-4IdoA,2-SO(3)alpha 1-4GlcN,6-SO(3)alpha OMe; where GlcN,6-SO(3) is 2-deoxy-2-sulphamino-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl 6-sulphate, IdoA is l-iduronic acid and IdoA2-SO(3) is L-iduronic acid 2-sulphate), which exactly reproduces the structure of the specific binding sequence of heparin and heparan sulphate for antithrombin III, has been studied by NMR. In the presence of antithrombin there were marked changes in the chemical shifts and nuclear Overhauser effects (NOEs), compared with the free state. On the basis of the optimized geometry of the pentasaccharide the transferred NOEs were interpreted with full relaxation and conformational exchange matrix analysis. An analysis of the three-dimensional structures of the pentasaccharide in the free state, and in the complex, revealed the binding to be accompanied by dihedral angle variation at the A-G and I-A(M) (where G, I, A and A(M) are beta-d-glucuronic acid, 2-O-sulphated alpha-L-iduronic acid, N,6-O-sulphated alpha-D-glucosamine and the alpha-methyl-glycoside of A respectively) glycosidic linkages. Evidence is also provided that the protein drives the conformation of the 2-O-sulphated iduronic acid residue towards the skewed (2)S(0) form.

Altered lipoprotein lipase regulation associated with diabetes leading to the development of hypertriglyceridemia might be attributed to possible changes in content and the fine structure of heparan sulfate and its associated lipoprotein lipase. Adipocyte cell surface is the primary site of synthesis of lipoprotein lipase and the enzyme is bound to cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans via heparan sulfate side chains. In this study, the effect of diabetes on the production of adipocyte heparan sulfate and its sulfation (especially N-sulfation) were examined. Mouse 3T3-L1 adipocytes were exposed to high glucose (25 mM) and low glucose (5.55 mM) in the medium and cell-associated heparan sulfate was isolated and characterized. A significant decrease in total content of heparan sulfate was observed in adipocytes cultured under high glucose as compared to low glucose conditions. The degree of N-sulfation was-assessed through oligosaccharide mapping of heparan sulfate after chemical cleavages involving low pH (1.5) nitrous acid and hydrazinolysis/high pH (4.0) nitrous acid treatments; N-sulfation was found to be comparable between the adipocyte heparan sulfates produced under these glucose conditions. The activity and message levels for N-deacetylase/N-sulfotransferase, the enzyme responsible for N-sulfation in the biosynthesis of heparan sulfate, did not vary in adipocytes whether they were exposed to low or high glucose. While most cells or tissues in diabetic situations produce heparan sulfate with low-charge density concomitant with a decrease in N-sulfation, adipocyte cell system is an exception in this regard. Heparan sulfate from adipocytes cultured in low glucose conditions binds to lipoprotein lipase by the same order of magnitude as that derived from high glucose conditions. It is apparent that adipocytes cultured under high glucose conditions produce diminished levels of heparan sulfate (without significant changes in N-sulfation). In conclusion, it is possible that the reduction in heparan sulfate in diabetes could contribute to the decreased levels of heparan sulfate associated lipoprotein lipase, leading to diabetic hypertriglyceridemia.

The capsular polysaccharide from E. Coli, strain K5 composed of ...--4)beta-D-GlcA(1--4)alpha-D-GlcNAc(1--4)beta-D-GlcA (1--..., chemically modified K5 polysaccharides, bearing sulfates at C-2 and C-6 of the hexosamine moiety and at the C-2 of the glucuronic acid residues as well as 2-O desulfated heparin were used as substrates to study the specificity of heparitinases I and II and heparinase from Flavobacterium heparinum. The natural K5 polysaccharide was susceptible only to heparitinase I forming deltaU-GlcNAc. N-deacetylated, N-sulfated K5 became susceptible to both heparitinases I and II producing deltaU-GlcNS. The K5 polysaccharides containing sulfate at the C-2 and C-6 positions of the hexosamine moiety and C-2 position of the glucuronic acid residues were susceptible only to heparitinase II producing deltaU-GlcNS,6S and deltaU,2S-GlcNS,6S respectively. These combined results led to the conclusion that the sulfate at C-6 position of the glucosamine is impeditive for the action of heparitinase I and that heparitinase II requires at least a C-2 or a C-6 sulfate in the glucosamine residues of the substrate for its activity. Iduronic acid-2-O-desulfated heparin was susceptible only to heparitinase II producing deltaU-GlcNS,6S. All the modified K5 polysaccharides as well as the desulfated heparin were not substrates for heparinase. This led to the conclusion that heparitinase II acts upon linkages containing non-sulfated iduronic acid residues and that heparinase requires C-2 sulfated iduronic acid residues for its activity.

Low molecular weight heparins (LMWHs) obtained by different depolymerization processes can be distinguished from each other by characteristic end-residues, which are easily identified and quantified by nuclear-magnetic-resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. NMR spectroscopy characterizes major sulfation patterns as well as minor sequences such as the antithrombin-binding sequence and the linkage region of LMWHs. Artifacts associated with base-induced modifications such as the formation of iduronic acid epoxide and aziridine derivatives of N-sulfoglucosamine residues can also be detected. The influence of these modifications on the binding of heparins and LMWHs to proteins other than antithrombin are discussed.

The (13)C NMR spectra of most heparin and heparan sulfate preparations display minor signals not attributable to the glycosaminoglycan chains of these polysaccharides. These signals have been "concentrated" in oligosaccharides isolated from an acid hydrolyzate of heparin and shown to arise from the sequence GlcA-Gal-Gal-Xyl of the "linkage region" (LR) connecting the carbohydrate chains to the peptide chains in the original proteoglycans. Mono- and two-dimensional (1)H and (13)C NMR analysis of the major oligosaccharide (LR-OLIGO) indicated the prevalent structure GlcA-GlcNAc-GlcA-Gal-Gal-Xyl, where GlcNAc is partially 6-O-sulfated. (13)C NMR signals at 84.6 and 85.0 ppm, arising from C-3 of the two Gal residues, lend themselves to easy detection and quantification of the linkage region in heparins and heparan sulfates and can be used to assess the importance of the LR in the modulation of various biological activities of these glycosaminoglycans.

Though differing only slightly in their degrees of sulfation, heparin preparations from pig mucosa and those from beef mucosa have consistently different 13C- and 1H-NMR spectra, which provide useful fingerprints for distinguishing the two types of heparin. Integrated areas of NMR signals associated with minor, undersulfated sequences (assigned by comparison with mono-dimensional spectra of selectively desulfated heparins and by analysis of two-dimensional spectra of heparins prepared from pig and beef mucosa) permit quantitation of differences in sulfation patterns. Undersulfation of pig mucosal heparins at position 6 of the hexosamine units, determined by 13C-NMR and expressed as percent glucosamines nonsulfated at C6 referred to total glucosamines, is substantially lower for pig mucosal heparins than for beef mucosal heparins (16.9-21.7% vs 36.7-40.7%; average values: 18.6% vs 40.3%). By contrast, undersulfation at position 2 of the iduronic acid units, determined by 1H-NMR and expressed as percent nonsulfated iduronic acid referred to total (sulfated + nonsulfated) iduronic acid is significantly higher for pig mucosal preparations (9.6-13.5% vs 2.1-2.7%; average values: 12.7% vs 2.3%). Pig mucosal heparins also have a significantly higher content of 3-O-sulfated glucosamine units, which are markers for the active site of heparin for antithrombin-III.

We have developed a competitive heparin binding assay employing protamine-coated magnetic beads for detection and measurement of heparin. The assay utilizes 125-iodine specifically bound to newly synthesized low-molecular-mass (LMM) heparin-tyramine. The tracer was stable over a period of 3 weeks, as demonstrated by gel filtration chromatography. The protamine-coated beads were found to be stable over at least two months. The heparin-tyramine bead assay had in buffer a lower detection limit of 0.04 microgram/ml and in plasma of 0.23 microgram heparin/ml. 50% binding was obtained at 0.7 microgram/ml and 20% binding at 4 micrograms/ml in plasma. The within assay coefficient of variation ranged from 9 to 28% for unfractionated, high molecular mass (HMM) heparin and from 12 to 15% for LMM-heparins in buffer system and in plasma. Various heparin fractions displaced the tracer from the protamine-coated magnetic beads to different extents. The validity of the assay was proven after intravenous administration of unfractionated and LMM-heparin in man. The elimination rate was similar using the heparin-tyramine bead assay compared with the anti-factor Xa coagulation assay. After intravenous dosing of LMM-heparin the maximal concentration was lower using the heparin-tyramine bead assay compared with the anti-factor Xa coagulation assay. The bead assay was found to be reproducible, valid, and rapid for measurement of the concentration of heparin preparations in purified systems and for HMM-heparin in plasma. Measurement of the concentration of LMM-heparin in plasma has a high coefficient of variation using the binding assay.

The sequence (IdoA2SO3-GalNAc4SO3)n contributes to the HCII-mediated inhibition of thrombin by dermatan sulfate (DS). This sequence clearly results from the 13C NMR spectrum and can be quantified by the signal C1-H of IdoA2SO3 in the 1H NMR spectrum. A linear correlation has been found between the content in the disulfated disaccharide ΔDi-2,4diS obtained by enzymatic demolition with ABC lyase, the percentage content in IdoA2SO3 quantified by 1H NMR, and the HCII-mediated activity of dermatan sulfates from beef mucosa and pig skin. DSs have been obtained also from pig mucosa and contain an amount, not negligible, of ΔDi-4, 6diS. This disulfate disaccharide contributes to the activity expressed by the IdoA2SO3-GalNAc4SO3 sequence. The analytical techniques HPLC and 1H NMR, applied to the currently performed analyses of DS, are described and discussed.

Heparin plays an important role in anticoagulation and several other biological processes. Cleavage of heparin by nitrous acid results in a reactive 2,5-anhydromannose (Am) which can be used to selectively insert primary and secondary amines by reductive amination. Low-molecular-mass heparin (LMMH) was bound to 4-(2-aminoethylphenol) as shown by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), high-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC), polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), and ultraviolet/visible (uv/vis) spectroscopy. 1H NMR spectra revealed an average sequence of (IdoA2SO3-GlcNSO36SO3)9-IdoAaSO3-Am-tyramine and a 50% binding rate of tyramine to LMMH. LMMH-Tyr had an anticoagulant activity of 108 antifactor Xa activity (aXa) U/mg and 42 antifactor IIa activity (aIIa) U/mg. The compound was neutralized by protamine. The N-alkylamine derivative was adopted to label LMMH with iodine-125 by oxidation with chloramine T. Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate (Fitc) was used to label LMMH-Tyr with fluorescence. NMR, HPSEC, PAGE, and uv/vis spectroscopy demonstrated the binding of Fitc to LMMH-Tyr. 1H NMR spectra indicated that about 80% of the LMMH-Tyr was labeled at the secondary amino group. The fluorescent compound exhibited 70 aXa and 5 aIIa U/mg and was neutralized by protamine. The selectively bound labeled heparin derivatives are "endpoint attached" and have intact anticoagulant activity.

Dermatan sulphate (DS) obtained from bovine and pig mucosa and pig skin, and charge-enriched fractions of a selected DS preparation, were characterized in terms of charge density, M(r) and disaccharide composition of chondroitin ABC lyase digests, and by 13C-n.m.r. spectroscopy. Besides the major IdoA-GalNAc4SO3 sequences, all DS preparations contain about 10% disulphated disaccharide sequences (mostly IdoA2SO3-GalNAc4SO3, with minor amounts of IdoA-GalNAc4,6SO3). DS fragments (prepared by radical-catalysed depolymerization of DS and retaining the internal structure of the parent polysaccharide) as well as Smith degraded fragments [SD-DS, obtained by controlled degradation of periodate-oxidized and borohydride-reduced DS (RO-DS)] with the general structure GalNAc4SO3(IdoA2SO3-GalNAc4SO3)n-R (where R is the remnant of a glycol-split uronic acid, and n = 2-3 and 3-4) were characterized by one- and two-dimensional 1H-n.m.r., 13C-n.m.r. and disaccharide composition analysis. In accordance with previous findings [Maimone and Tollefsen (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 18263-18271], only fragments with n > or = 3 significantly enhance the heparin cofactor II-mediated inhibition of thrombin. In natural DS preparations and their fractions, this activity (as well as the antithrombotic activity in an animal model) appears to require IdoA2SO3-containing sequences. The heparin cofactor II activity of DS, RO-DS and SD-DS fragments decreases with decreasing M(r). However, RO-DS fragments are more active than DS fragments of similar M(r), probably because of the extra flexibility endowed by glycol-split IdoA residues.

Heparin preparations isolated from pig intestinal mucosa and from bovine lung were fractionated with regard to affinity for antithrombin. The resulting fractions, with high (HA) or low (LA) affinity for the proteinase inhibitor, were analyzed by 13C NMR or by identification of di- and tetrasaccharides obtained through deaminative cleavage with nitrous acid. Structural differences between corresponding HA and LA fractions were essentially restricted to minor constituents, in particular 3-O-sulfated glucosamine units that occurred (1 or 2 residues/chain) in all HA preparations but were scarce or absent in LA heparin. The HA fractions also consistently showed higher contents of nonsulfated iduronic acid and, to a lesser extent, N-acetylated glucosamine units than the LA fractions. The two tetrasaccharide sequences, -IdoA-GlcNAc(6-OSO3)-GlcA-GlcNSO3- and -IdoA-GlcNAc(6-OSO3)-GlcA-GlcNSO3(6-OSO3)- , recently implicated as part of the acceptor site for glucosaminyl 3-O-sulfate groups (Kusche, M., Bäckström, G., Riesenfeld, J., Petitou, M., Choay, J., and Lindahl, U. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 15474-15484), were identified in mucosal LA heparin; it was calculated that the preparation contained approximately one potential acceptor site/polysaccharide chain. Yet this material did not yield any labeled HA components on incubation with adenosine 3'-phosphate 5'-phospho-[35S]sulfate in the presence of glucosaminyl 3-O-sulfotransferase, solubilized from a mouse mastocytoma microsomal fraction. The failure to incorporate any 3-O-sulfate groups could conceivably be explained by the occurrence of a D-glucuronic rather than L-iduronic acid unit linked at the reducing ends of the above tetrasaccharide sequences. Alternatively, 3-O-sulfation may be restricted by other, as yet unidentified, inhibitory structural elements that are preferentially expressed in polysaccharide sequences selected for the generation of LA heparin.

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGS) are anionic polysaccharides widely distributed in animal tissues: hyaluronic acid (HA) is a component of sinovial fluid and connective tissues, chondroitin sulfates (Ch-4S and Ch-6S) are abundant in connective tissues, dermatan sulfate (DeS) in skin and intestinal mucosa, heparan sulfate (HS) is a matrix constituent of many tissues, and seems to be an ubiquitous component of cell surfaces | Fransson, 1985 |.

Experiments based on interaction in free solution between basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) and saccharides related to heparin/heparan sulfate showed that the growth factor binds to heparin and to selectively glucosaminyl 6-O-desulfated heparin but poorly to iduronosyl 2-O-desulfated heparin. 2-O-sulfate groups thus are essential to the interaction, whereas 6-O-sulfates are not required nor do they interfere with FGF-2 binding. Comparison of various bound/nonbound oligosaccharides implicated a minimal pentasaccharide sequence for FGF-2 binding, with the structure: -hexuronic acid-glucosamine N-sulfate-hexuronic acid-glucosamine N-sulfate-iduronic acid 2-O-sulfate- (reducing terminus to the right). Such (overlapping) sequences are abundant in heparin, albeit heavily obscured by irrelevant O-sulfate groups, and occur also in heparan sulfate, with or without additional O-sulfates.

The i.r. spectra for aqueous solutions of sulfated glycosaminoglycans and model compounds in the transmittance “window” region of the solvent (1400-950 cm −1 ) are dominated by the strong and complex absorption centered at ∼1230 cm −1 and associated with the antisymmetric stretching vibrations of the SO groups. Primary and secondary O -sulfate groups absorb at somewhat higher frequencies (1260-1200 cm −1 ) than N -sulfates (∼1185 cm −1 ). Each sulfate band lends itself to quantitative applications, especially within a given class of sulfated polysaccharide. Laser-Raman spectra of heparin and model compounds have been obtained in aqueous solution and in the solid state. The most-prominent Raman peak (at ∼1060 cm −1 ) is attributable to the symmetrical vibration of the SO groups, with N -sulfates emitting at somewhat lower frequencies (∼1040 cm −1 ) than O -sulfates. The Raman pattern in the 950-800 cm −1 region (currently used in the i.r. for distinguishing between types of sulfate groups) also involves vibrations that are not localized only in the COS bonds.

The chemical composition and the 13C n.m.r. spectra of heparin oligosaccharides (essentially octasaccharides), having high affinity for antithrombin III and high anti-(Factor Xa) activity, prepared by three independent approaches (extraction, partial deaminative cleavage with HNO2 and partial depolymerization with bacterial heparinase), leading to different terminal residues, have been studied and compared with those of the corresponding inactive species. Combined wit chemical data, the spectra of the active oligosaccharides and of their fragmentation products afforded information on composition and sequence. The three types of active oligosaccharides were shown to have the common hexasaccharide core I-Aa-G-As*-Is-As, where I and alpha-L-idopyranosyl-uronic acid, Aa = 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-alpha-D-glucopyranose, G = beta-D-glucopyranosyl-uronic acid, Is = alpha-L-idopyranosyluronic acid 2-O-sulphate, As = 2-deoxy-2-sulphamino-alpha-D-glucopyranose 6-O-sulphate. The fourth residue (As*) is an unusually substituted amino sugar resistant to mild deamination. The 13C spectra of the active species are characterized by signals from the above atypical amino sugar, the most evident of which is at 57.7 p.p.m. These signals, compared with those of appropriate synthetic model compounds, are compatible with the recently proposed 3-O-sulphation of the residue As* [Lindahl, Bäckström, Thunberg & Leder (1980) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77, 6551-6555].

The conformation of the monomeric units and of the polymeric chain of the peracetates of α- and β-cyclodextrin and amylose have been investigated by i.r. and p.m.r. spectroscopy. The spin-spin coupling constants of the ring protons and the i.r. spectra indicate the C1 conformation for the d -glucopyranose units. The i.r. dichroism of an oriented film of amylose triacetate is consistent with a helical conformation of the chain. The chemical shift difference of the signals for H-1 and H-4 in β-cyclodextrin triacetate (assumed to be in a “quasi-eclipsed” chain conformation) and amylose triacetate is consistent with a rotation of the monomeric units of amylose triacetate around the C-1O and C-4O bonds. The solvent effect on the chemical shift of the ring and acetyl protons has also been studied. Assignments for the acetyl signals of the triacetates of cyclodextrins and amylose are proposed.

The conformation of the glucopyranose units of O-methylated amylose, cyclodextrins and of model O-methylated glucoses and di-glucoses was investigated by PMR and IR spectroscopy. The C 1 H and C 2 H bonds of O-methylated α-glucoses and of α-1,4-linked di- and poly-glucoses were found to be equatorial and axial, respectively and consistent with the chair “Cl” conformation of the glucopyranose units. The hydrogen bonding of partially methylated compounds in nonpolar (CCl 4 , CHCl 3 ) as well as in polar (DMSO) solvents was also studied. The OH at C-3 of 2,6-di-O-methylated α- and β-cyclodextrin was found to be intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded to the oxygen of the methoxyl at C-2 of the adjacent unit. This internal hydrogen bond is solvent- and concentration-independent and accounts for the resistance to methylation of the OH at C-3 of cyclodextrins and probably also amylose.

Characteristics of proton magnetic resonance spectra of heparins at 220 MHz, coupled with spectral data for model compounds and with information obtained chemically, indicate that heparins are composed principally of (1 → 4)-linked α-L-idopyranosyluronic acid residues (3) and 2-amino-2-deoxy-α-D-glucopyranosyl residues (1); also, that sulfate groups are located at position -2 and -6 of 1, and -2 of 3. D-Glucopyranosyluronic acid residues (2) appear to be minor constituents, which is at variance with all structures that have been proposed previously for heparin.Spectra of chondroitins A, B, and C, which are readily distinguishable, are in close accord with formulae that have been proposed for these mucopolysaccharides; on the same basis, the spectrum of keratan sulfate is less consistent. Hyaluronic acid affords a poorly resolved though, nonetheless, distinctive spectrum. The general view that mucopolysaccharides are constituted basically of residues of hexosamine and uronic acid in equimolar proportion receives support from the current findings. However, heparitin appears to possess a more heterogeneous type of structure than do these other polymers.

Hydrogen bonding and conformation of glucose and some di-, oligo- and polyglucoses in dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) solution have been investigated by studying the NMR C 1 H and OH and the IR νOH absorptions. The chemical shift and the splitting of the C 1 H proton signals are consistent with the chair “Cl” conformation of the glucopyranose units of all the products investigated. The anomeric hydrxyl of glucose and related sugars gives a proton resonance at the lowest field, its chemical shift and splitting being characteristic of the configuration of the anomeric linkage [τ = 3·70–4sd05 ppm, J = 4·–4.5 c/s for α anomers (O 1 H axial) and τ = 3·40–3·68 ppm, J = 6·0–7·0 c/s for β anomers (O 1 H equatorial)]. Non-anomeric hydroxyls of glucose and most sugars related to glucose giveNMR peaks in the range 5–6 τ, taken as characteristic of OH groups free to associate with DMSO by H-bonding. All the hydroxyls free to associate with DMSO give a symmetrical IR νOH in the region 3400-3320 cm −1 . The “internal” O 2 H and O 3 ′H of maltose andmaltosides show resonances at field lower than 5 τ, the shift down 5 τ increasing from maltose to amylose to cyclodextrins, and an IR νOH band correspondingly broadened by an additional absorption on the low frequency side. These findings are consistent with the existence of an intramolecular H-bond between the hydroxyls at C 2 and C 3 ′ of contiguous glucose units. The strongest H-bond found in cyclodextrins is explained in terms of a limited rotation of the glucose units of the macrocycle. Cellobiose and laminaran display one hydroxyl signal at field lower than 5 τ and a slight broadening of the IR νOH band. An intramolecular H-bond between one hdroxyl of a unit and the ring oxygen of the contiguous unit is proposed for the two products.