The copolymeric structure of pig skin dermatan sulphate. Characterization of d-glucuronic acid-containing oligosaccharides isolated after controlled degradation of oxydermatan sulphate

Selective periodate oxidation of unsubstituted l-iduronic acid residues in copolymeric dermatan sulphate chains was followed by reduction-hydrolysis or alkaline elimination. By this procedure the glucuronic acid-containing periods were isolated in oligosaccharide form; general formula: [Formula: see text] Further degradation of these oligosaccharides with chondroitinase-AC yielded three types of products: (a) sulphated trisaccharide containing an unsaturated uronosyl moiety in the non-reducing terminal and a C(4) fragment in the reducing terminal, DeltaUA-GalNAc-(-SO(4))-R; (b) monosulphated, unsaturated disaccharide, DeltaUA-GalNAc-SO(4) when n is greater than or equal to 2; and (c) N-acetylgalactosamine with or without sulphate. Oligosaccharides containing a single glucuronic acid residue (n=1) comprised more than half of the glucuronic acid-containing oligosaccharides. The terminal N-acetylgalactosamine moiety of the shortest oligosaccharide was largely 4-sulphated, whereas higher oligosaccharides primarily contained 6-sulphated or unsulphated hexosamine moieties in the same position. Moreover, IdUA-SO(4)-containing oligosaccharides were encountered. These oligosaccharides were resistant to the action of chondroitinase-ABC.     

The co-polymeric structure of pig skin dermatan sulphate. Distribution of L-iduronic acid sulphate residues in co-polymeric chains.

1. Pig skin dermatan sulphate was degraded by periodate oxidation followed by alkaline elimination or by chondroitinase-ABC to quantify irregular repeating units, i.e. those containing D-GlcUA (D-glucuronic acid) and L-IdUA-SO4 (sulphated iduronic acid). 2. Previous results of periodate oxidation (Fransson, 1974) indicated repeating sequences in pig skin dermatan sulphate containing, on average, 3D-GlcUA, 9 L-IdUA-SO4 or 28 L-IdUA units in addition to N-acetylgalactosamine sulphate. However, complete digestion with chondroitinase-ABC yielded, at the most, 3-4 disulphated disaccharides/chain. Consequently, more than one-half of the L-IdUA-SO4 residues were present in monosulphated periods, i.e. IdUA-(SO4)-GalNAc. 3. To determine the location of L-IdUA-SO4 residues along the copolymeric chain dermatan sulphate was digested with testicular hyaluronidase. (This enzyme cleaves GalNAc-GlcUA bonds within block regions containing D-GlcUA.) By NaB3H4 reduction GalNAc residues located in the reducing end of the fragments were converted into [3H]GalNAcOH (N-acetylgalactosaminitol). Finally, the radioactive product was fragmented by periodate oxidation followed by alkaline elimination. The bulk of the radioactivity was associated with periodate-resistant oligosaccharides indicating that clusters of GlcUA-GalNAc-SO4 periods are often adjacent to a varying number of (n = 1-4) of L-IdUA-SO4-containing periods. 4. To study the distribution of L-IdUA-SO4-containing periods in relation to blocks of IdUA-GalNAc-SO4 periods different fractions of hyaluronidase-degraded dermatan sulphate were degraded separately. In all types of fragments (mol. wts. 1,500-10,000) L-IdUA-SO4-containing periods were demonstrated. In short fragments reducing terminal GalNAc-6-SO4 (6-sulphated N-acetylgalactosamine) was found confirming that these sequences were joined to relatively long D-GlcUA-containing block sequences via GalNAc-6-SO4. Moreover, low-molecular-weight oligosaccharides composed of alternating sequences were encountered. An octasaccharide derived from the carbohydrate sequence -GalNAc---GlcUA-GalNAc-IdUA-GalNAc-GlcUA-GalNAc-IdUA-GalNAc---GlcUA-GalNAc (--- indicates the position of cleavage by hyaluronidase) was identified.     

1H-n.m.r. investigation of naturally occurring and chemically oversulphated dermatan sulphates. Identification of minor monosaccharide residues.

The 1H-n.m.r. spectra of various dermatan sulphate preparations present, besides the major signals of the basic disaccharide unit, several other minor signals. We have assigned most of them by n.m.r., using two-dimensional proton-proton double-quantum-correlation and nuclear-Overhauser-effect spectroscopy experiments. This allowed us to identify 2-O-sulphated L-iduronic acid and D-glucuronic acid residues as well as 6-sulphated N-acetylgalactosamine (presumably 4-O-sulphated as well). 2-O-Sulphated iduronic acid was present to similar extents (6-10% of total uronic acids) in pig skin dermatan sulphate and pig intestine dermatan sulphate, whereas glucuronic acid represented 17% of the uronic acid of pig skin dermatan sulphate and was virtually absent (1%) from the other preparation. 6-O-Sulphated N-acetylgalactosamine was present in minor amounts in pig intestine dermatan sulphate only. The influence of sulphation of iduronic acid units on their conformation was assessed by using chemically oversulphated pig intestine dermatan sulphate. Introduction of sulphate groups in this unit in dermatan sulphate tends to shift the conformational equilibrium towards the 1C4 conformer.     

Formation of dermatan sulfate by cultured human skin fibroblasts. Effects of sulfate concentration on proportions of dermatan/chondroitin

[3H,35S]Dermatan/chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycans produced during culture of fibroblasts in medium containing varying concentrations of sulfate were tested for their susceptibility to chondroitin ABC lyase and chondroitin AC lyase. Chondroitin ABC lyase completely degraded [3H]hexosamine-labeled and [35S] sulfate-labeled dermatan/chondroitin sulfate to disaccharides. Chondroitin AC lyase treatment of the labeled glycosaminoglycans produced different results. With this enzyme, dermatan/chondroitin sulfate formed at high concentrations of sulfate yielded small glycosaminoglycans and larger oligosaccharides but almost no disaccharide. This indicated that the dermatan/chondroitin sulfate co-polymer contained mostly iduronic acid with only an occasional glucuronic acid. As the medium sulfate concentration was progressively lowered, there was a concomitant increase in the susceptibility to degradation by chondroitin AC lyase. Thus, the labeled glycosaminoglycans formed at the lowest concentration of sulfate yielded small oligosaccharides including substantial amounts of disaccharide. The smaller chondroitin AC lyase-resistant [3H,35S]dermatan/chondroitin sulfate oligosaccharides were analyzed by gel filtration. Results indicated that, in general, the iduronic acid-containing disaccharide residues present in the undersulfated [3H,35S]glycosaminoglycan were sulfated, whereas the glucuronic acid-containing disaccharide residues were non-sulfated. This work confirms earlier reports that there is a relationship between epimerization and sulfation. Moreover, it demonstrates that medium sulfate concentration is critical in determining the proportions of dermatan to chondroitin (iduronic/glucuronic acid) produced by cultured cells.     

The copolymeric structure of dermatan sulphate produced by cultured human fibroblasts. Different distribution of iduronic acid and glucuronic acid-containing units in soluble and cell-associated glycans.

The structure of dermatan [35S]sulphate-chondroitin [35S]sulphate copolymers synthesized and secreted by fibroblasts in culture was studied. 35S-labelled glycosaminoglycans were isolated from the medium, a trypsin digest of the cells and the cell residue after 72h of 35SO42-incorporation. The galactosaminoglycan component (dermatan sulphatechondroitin sulphate copolymers) was isolated and subjected to various degradation procedures including digestion with testicular hyaluronidase, chondroitinase-AC and-ABC and periodate oxidation followed by alkaline elimination. The galactosaminoglycans from the various sources displayed significant structural differences with regard to the distribution of various repeating units, i.e. IdUA-GalNAc-SO4 (L-iduronic acid-N-acetyl-galactosamine sulphate), GlcUA-GalNAc-SO4 (D-glucuronic acid-N-acetylgalactosamine-sulphate) and IdUA(-SO4)-GalNAc (L-iduronosulphate-N-acetylgalactosamine). The galactosaminoglycans of the cell residue contained larger amounts of IdUA-GalNAc-SO4 than did those isolated from the medium or those released by trypsin. In contrast, the glycans from the latter 2 sources contained large proportions of periodate-resistant repeat periods [GlcUA-GalNAc-SO4 and IdUA(-SO4)-GalNAc]. Periods containing L-iduronic acid sulphate were particularly prominent in copolymers found in the medium. Kinetic studies indicated that the 35S-labelled glycosaminoglycan of the cell residue accumulated radioactivity more slowly than did the glycans of other fractions, indicating that the material remaining with the cells was not exclusively a precursor of the secreted polymers. The presence of copolymers rich in glucuronic acid or iduronic acid sulphate residues in the soluble fractions may be the result of selective secretion from the cells. Alternatively, extracellular, polymer-level modifications such as C-5 inversion of L-iduronic acid to D-glucuronic acid, or sulphate rearrangements, would yield similar results.     

Synthesis of glycosaminoglycans by human embryonic lung fibroblasts. Different distribution of heparan sulphate, chondroitin sulphate and dermatan sulphate in various fractions of the cell culture

Foetal human lung fibroblasts, grown in monolayer, were allowed to incorporate ³⁵SO₄²⁻ for various periods of time. ³⁵S-labelled macromolecular anionic products were isolated from the medium, a trypsin digest of the cells in monolayer and the cell residue. The various radioactive polysaccharides were identified as heparan sulphate and a galactosaminoglycan population (chondroitin sulphate and dermatan sulphate) by ion-exchange chromatography and by differential degradations with HNO₂ and chondroitinase ABC. Most of the heparan sulphate was found in the trypsin digest, whereas the galactosaminoglycan components were largely confined to the medium. Electrophoretic studies on the various ³⁵S-labelled galactosaminoglycans suggested the presence of a separate chondroitin sulphate component (i.e. a glucuronic acid-rich galactosaminoglycan). The ³⁵S-labelled galactosaminoglycans were subjected to periodate oxidation of l-iduronic acid residues followed by scission in alkali. A periodate-resistant polymer fraction was obtained, which could be degraded to disaccharides by chondroitinase AC. However, most of the ³⁵S-labelled galactosaminoglycans were extensively degraded by periodate oxidation–alkaline elimination. The oligosaccharides obtained were essentially resistant to chondroitinase AC, indicating that the iduronic acid-rich galactosaminoglycans (i.e. dermatan sulphate) were composed largely of repeating units containing sulphated or non-sulphated l-iduronic acid residues. The l-iduronic acid residues present in dermatan sulphate derived from the medium and the trypsin digest contained twice as much ester sulphate as did material associated with the cells. The content of d-glucuronic acid was low and similar in all three fractions. The relative distribution of glycosaminoglycans among the various fractions obtained from cultured lung fibroblasts was distinctly different from that of skin fibroblasts [Malmström, Carlstedt, Åberg & Fransson (1975) Biochem. J. 151, 477–489]. Moreover, subtle differences in co-polymeric structure of dermatan sulphate isolated from the two cell types could be detected.     

Structural studies on heparan sulphate from human lung fibroblasts. Characterization of oligosaccharides obtained by selective periodate oxidation of d-glucuronic acid residues followed by scission in alkali

1. ³H- and ³⁵S-labelled heparan sulphate was isolated from monolayers of human lung fibroblasts and subjected to degradations by (a) deaminative cleavage and (b) periodate oxidation/alkaline elimination. Fragments were resolved by gel- and ion-exchange-chromatography. 2. Deaminative cleavage of the radioactive glycan afforded mainly disaccharides with a low content of ester-sulphate and free sulphate, indicating that a large part (approx. 80%) of the repeating units consisted of uronosyl-glucosamine-N-sulphate. Blocks of non-sulphated [glucuronosyl-N-acetyl glucosamine] repeats (3–4 consecutive units) accounted for the remainder of the chains. 3. By selective oxidation of glucuronic acid residues associated with N-acetylglucosamine, followed by scission in alkali, the radioactive glycan was degraded into a series of fragments. The glucuronosyl-N-acetylglucosamine-containing block regions yielded a compound N-acetylglucosamine–R, where R is the remnant of an oxidized and degraded glucuronic acid. Periodate-insensitive uronic acid residues were recovered in saccharides of the general structure glucosamine–(uronic acid–glucosamine)_n–R. 4. Further degradations of these saccharides via deaminative cleavage and re-oxidations with periodate revealed that iduronic acid may be located in sequences such as glucosamine-N-sulphate→iduronic acid→N-acetylglucosamine. Occasionally the iduronic acid was sulphated. Blocks of iduronic acid-containing repeats may contain up to five consecutive units. Alternating arrangements of iduronic acid- and glucuronic acid-containing repeats were also observed. 5. ³H- and ³⁵S-labelled heparan sulphates from sequential extracts of fibroblasts (medium, EDTA, trypsin digest, dithiothreitol extract, cell-soluble and cell-insoluble material) afforded similar profiles after both periodate oxidation/alkaline elimination and deaminative cleavage.     

Biosynthesis of dermatan sulphate. Loss of C-5 hydrogen during conversion of D-glucuronate to L-iduronate.

The formation of L-iduronic acid during biosynthesis of dermatan sulphate has been studied in culture human fibroblasts and in microsomes from the same cells. The cells were incubated with D-[14C]glucose and D-[5-3H]glucose for 72 h. The [14C,3H]dermatan sulphate was hydrolysed and the disaccharides obtained were acetylated and separated by ion-exchange chromatography. The ratio of 3H/14C was 0.36 for N-acetyldermosine and 1.36 N-acetylchondrosine. A microsomal preparation from the fibroblasts was incubated with UDP-D-[5-3H]glucuronic acid, UDP-D-[14C]glucuronic acid, UDP-N-acetyl-D-galactosamine and 3'-phospho-5'-adenylyl sulphate. The polymeric products were separated into nonsulphated and sulphated components which had 3H/14C ratios of 0.51 and 0.20 and contained 9% and 70% of their uronosyl residues in the L-ido-configuration, respectively. Chondroitinase-AC digestion of these polymers liberated all of the remaining 3H activity. Hydrolysis and N-acetylation followed by paper chromatography showed that the L-iduronic acid-containing products were devoid of 3H. The data obtained indicate that the epimerization of D-glucuronosyl to L-iduronosyl residues during biosynthesis of dermatan sulphate involves an abstraction of the C-5 hydrogen of the uronosyl residue.     

Interaction between heparan sulphate chains. I. A gel chromatographic, light-scattering and structural study of aggregating and non-aggregating chains

1. Heparan sulphate from bovine lung was fractionated with cetylpyridinium chloride. Solubilisation of complexes was accomplished by increasing concentrations of NaCl in a step-wise manner. Fractions I-IV, which were low-sulphated, contained more D-glucuronic acid than L-iduronic acid, fraction V contained equal proportions while fraction VI was L-iduronic acid-rich. 2. Gel chromatography of heparan sulphates II-IV in 0.5 M sodium acetate yielded extremely asymmetric profiles, while fractions V, VI and heparin did not. 3. Heparan sulphate IV was separated into aggregatable and non-aggregatable species by gel chromatography in 0.5 M sodium acetate. The particle/molecular weights of the two species were determined by light scattering. In 0.15 M NaCl or KCl the aggregatable chains yielded particle weights of 60 000-100 000 while the molecular weight was 20 000 (in 4.0 M guanidine HCl). Non-aggregatable chains afforded 'monomeric' values in 0.15 M NaCl or KCl. 4. Periodate oxidation of D-glucuronic acid residues in N-acetylated block regions followed by scission in alkali was used to fragment aggregating and non-aggregating heparan sulphate IV. The former chains yielded, on average, shorter oligosaccharides than did the latter. Reoxidation of the remaining D-glucuronic acid residues (adjacent to N-sulphated amino sugars) in the oligosaccharides followed by alkaline cleavage resulted in distinctly different fragmentation patterns in the two cases. The iduronate-containing oligosaccharides derived from aggregatable chains were markedly degraded into fragments ranging from glucosamine-L-iduronic acid-glucosamine-(C-3 fragment) to higher saccharides. Only higher saccharides were obtained from fragments of non-aggregatable chains. 5. It is concluded that self-associating heparan sulphates comprise both D-glucuronic acid- and L-iduronic acid-containing repeating units and that these units are arranged in an alternating or mixed fashion. These characteristics are analogous to those observed with self-associating dermatan sulphate species (Fransson, L.-A. and C?ster, L. (1979) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 582, 132-144).     

Effects of sulfate deprivation on the production of chondroitin/dermatan sulfate by cultures of skin fibroblasts from normal and diabetic individuals

Human skin fibroblast monolayer cultures from two normal men, three Type I diabetic men, and one Type I diabetic woman were incubated with [3H]glucosamine in the presence of diminished concentrations of sulfate. Although total synthesis of [3H]chondroitin/dermatan glycosaminoglycans varied somewhat between cell lines, glycosaminoglycan production was not affected within any line when sulfate levels were decreased from 0.3 mM to 0.06 mM to 0.01 mM to 0 added sulfate. Lowering of sulfate concentrations resulted in diminished sulfation of chondroitin/dermatan in a progressive manner, so that overall sulfation dropped to as low as 19% for one of the lines. Sulfation of chondroitin to form chondroitin 4-sulfate and chondroitin 6-sulfate was progressively and equally affected by decreasing the sulfate concentration in the culture medium. However, sulfation to form dermatan sulfate was preserved to a greater degree, so that the relative proportion of dermatan sulfate to chondroitin sulfate increased. Essentially all the nonsulfated residues were susceptible to chondroitin AC lyase, indicating that little epimerization of glucuronic acid residues to iduronic acid had occurred in the absence of sulfation. These results confirm the previously described dependency of glucuronic/iduronic epimerization on sulfation, and indicate that sulfation of the iduronic acid-containing disaccharide residues of dermatan can take place with sulfate concentrations lower than those needed for 6-sulfation and 4-sulfation of the glucuronic acid-containing disaccharide residues of chondroitin. There were considerable differences among the six fibroblast lines in susceptibility to low sulfate medium and in the proportion of chondroitin 6-sulfate, chondroitin 4-sulfate, and dermatan sulfate. However, there was no pattern of differences between normals and diabetics.     

Chondroitinase ABC digestion of dermatan sulphate. N.m.r. spectroscopic characterization of the oligo- and poly-saccharides.

Dermatan sulphates, in which iduronate was the predominant uronate constituent, were partially digested by chondroitinase ABC to produce oligosaccharides of the following structure: delta UA-[GalNAc(4SO3)-IdoA]mGalNAc(4SO3) [where m = 0-5, delta UA represents beta-D-gluco-4-enepyranosyluronate, IdoA represents alpha-L-iduronate and GalNAc(4SO3) represents 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-beta-D-galactose 4-O-sulphate], which were fractionated by gel-permeation chromatography and examined by 100 MHz 13C-n.m.r. and 400/500 MHz 1H-n.m.r. spectroscopy. Experimental conditions were established for the removal of non-reducing terminal unsaturated uronate residues by treatment with HgCL2, and reducing terminal N-acetylgalactosamine residues of the oligosaccharides were reduced with alkaline borohydride. These modifications were shown by 13C-n.m.r. spectroscopy to have proceeded to completion. Assignments of both 13C-n.m.r. and 1H-n.m.r. resonances are reported for the GalNAc(4SO3)-IdoA repeat sequence in the oligosaccharides as well as for the terminal residues resulting from enzyme digestion and subsequent modifications. A full analysis of a trisaccharide derived from dermatan sulphate led to the amendment of published 13C-n.m.r. chemical-shift assignments for the polymer.     

Glycosaminoglycan-lipoprotein interactions: 3. Structure of dermatan sulphate variants with high affinity for low density lipoprotein

An iduronate-rich dermatan sulphate fraction was found to contain variants with high affinity for human low density lipoprotein. Digestion of a dermatan sulphate-lipoprotein complex with chondroitinase-ABC afforded fragments that contained between 10 and 20 disaccharide repeats. In this fragment half of the uronate residues were iduronate-sulphate. The non-sulphated iduronate-bearing repeats were interspersed among the repeats containing sulpho-iduronate. This feature is similar to that observed with heparin-related glycans having high affinity for lipoproteins.     

The disaccharides formed by deaminative cleavage of N-deacetylated glycosaminoglycans.

Chondroitin 4-sulphate, chondroitin 6-sulphate, dermatan sulphate and keratan sulphate were N-deacetylated by treatment with hydrazine and then cleaved with HNO2 at pH 4.0, and the resulting products were reduced with NaB3H4. This reaction sequence cleaved the glycosaminoglycans at their N-acetyl-D-glucosamine or N-acetyl-D-galactosamine residues, which were converted into 3H-labelled 2,5-anhydro-D-mannitol (AManR) or 2,5-anhydro-D-talitol (ATalR) residues respectively. The end-labelled disaccharides, composed of D-glucuronic acid (GlcA), L-iduronic acid (IdoA) or D-galactose (Gal) and one of the anhydrohexitols, were identified as follows: both chondroitin 4-sulphate and chondroitin 6-sulphate gave GlcA----ATalR(4-SO4), GlcA----ATalR(6-SO4), IdoA----ATalR (4-SO4) and GlcA(2-SO4)----ATalR(6-SO4); dermatan sulphate gave IdoA----ATalR(4-SO4), GlcA----ATalR(4-SO4), GlcA----ATalR(6-SO4)----IdoA(2-SO4)ATalR(4-SO4) and IdoA----ATalR (4,6-diSO4); keratan sulphate gave Gal(6-SO4)----AManR(6-SO4), Gal----AManR(6-SO4), Gal(6-SO4)----AManR and Gal----AManR. Several additional disaccharides were generated by treatment of the uronic acid-containing disaccharides with hydrazine to epimerize their uronic acid residues at C-5. A number of these disaccharides were found to be substrates for lysosomal sulphatases and glycuronidases. Methods were developed for the separation of all of the disaccharide products by h.p.l.c. The rate of N-deacetylation of chondroitin 4-sulphate by hydrazinolysis was significantly lower than the rate of N-deacetylation of chondroitin 6-sulphate or chondroitin. Dermatan sulphate was N-deacetylated at an intermediate rate. The relative amounts of disaccharides obtained from chondroitin 4-sulphate, chondroitin 6-sulphate and dermatan sulphate under optimum hydrazinolysis/deamination conditions were comparable with the amounts of the corresponding products released from the polymers by chondroitinase treatment.     

Determination and structural characterisation of dermatan sulfate in the presence of other galactosaminoglycans

Chondroitin sulfate and dermatan sulfate are galactosaminoglycans that have similar size and charge density thus making difficult their separation and accurate determination from tissue preparations. A procedure was developed, which was based on the specific action of chondroitinase B, that allowed the determination of dermatan sulfate content in a mixture of chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate, its molecular mass (M_r), and iduronic acid content and distribution throughout the chain. According to this procedure, the galactosaminoglycan sample was treated with chondroitinase B and its profile, upon gel chromatography on Sepharose CL-6B, was compared to that of the initial sample. The differences in uronic acid content of the fractions of the gel chromatographies were plotted and a secondary profile was constructed, which corresponded to the elution profile of intact dermatan sulfate in the sample. From this profile, the size distribution of dermatan sulfate was obtained and its M_r was calculated. In addition, the accurate content of dermatan sulfate in the sample was determined. The digest contained oligosaccharides of variable size that were separated on BioGel P-10. From the separated oligosaccharides the distribution of iduronic acid throughout the dermatan sulfate chains was determined. The procedure was applied to the determination and partial characterisation of dermatan sulfate from sheep nasal cartilage, in which it is reported for the first time that it contains a significant proportion of dermatan sulfate chains of low iduronic acid content.     

Purification and characterisation of a minor low-sulphated dermatan sulphate-proteoglycan from ray skin.

A minor low-sulphated dermatan sulphate proteoglycan was isolated from ray skin by extraction with 2% sodium dodecyl sulphate, followed with ion-exchange chromatography, gel chromatography and density gradient centrifugation. The proteoglycan with a relative molecular mass (Mr) ranging from 70 to 120 kDa is composed of about two dermatan sulphate chains (Mr 33 kDa) bound on a protein core of Mr 27 kDa, and oligosaccharides consisting of uronic acids, hexosamines and neutral sugars. The major amino acids of the protein core were glycine (corresponding to about one-fourth of the total amino acids), serine, threonine, glutamic acid/glutamine, leucine and cysteine, together amounting to 56% of the total. The isolated proteoglycan does not interact with hyaluronic acid and does not form self-aggregates. Dermatan sulphate was rich in iduronic acid (62% of total uronic acid) and composed of non-sulphated (44%), and mono-sulphated disaccharides bearing esterified sulphate groups at positions C-4 (53%) or C-6 (3%) of the N-acetyl galactosamine. HPLC analysis of a pure preparation of dermatan sulphate, showed the presence of galactose and glucose possibly as branches on the dermatan sulphate chain.     

A novel heparan sulphate with high degree of N-sulphation and high heparin cofactor-II activity from the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana

With the aid of heparinase and heparitinases from Flavobacterium heparinum and 13C and IH NMR spectroscopy it was shown that the heparan sulphate isolated from the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana exhibits structural features intermediate between those of mammalian heparins and heparan sulphates. These include an unusually high degree of N-sulphation (with corresponding very low degree of N-acetylation), a relatively high content of iduronic acid residues (both unsulphated and 2-O-sulphated) and a relatively low degree of 6-O-sulphation of the glucosamine residues. The major sequences (glucuronic acid-->N-sulphated glucosamine and glucuronic acid-->N, 6-disulphated glucosamine) are most probably arranged in blocks. Although exhibiting negligible anticlotting activity in the APTT and anti-factor Xa assays the A. franciscana heparan sulphate has a high heparin cofactor-II activity (about 1/3 that of heparin).     

PURIFICATION AND SOME PROPERTIES OF ACID MUCOPOLYSACCHARIDES OF BOVINE BRAIN

Abstract— (1) Acid mucopolysaccharide was obtained from bovine brain and fractionated by Dowex 1 ×−2 column chromatography. Infrared spectra, elution profiles and chemical composition revealed that it was essentially composed of hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulphates.
(2) Six unsaturated dissacharides containing different types of ester-sulphate, namely ΔDi-OSh, ΔDi-OS, ΔDi-4S, ΔDi-6S, ΔDi-diS_D, and ΔDi-diS_E, were detected in the chondroitinase-ABC and -AC digests of sulphated acid mucopolysaccharide fractions. Their molar fraction was determined and the monosulphated disaccharides, ΔDi-4S and ΔDi-6S, wére found to be the two main components. A time course curve of digestion with condroitinase-ABC indicated the existence of small amounts of uronic acid-containing components resistant to chondroitinase-ABC.
(3) The peptide chains bound to acid mucopolysaccharides were mainly composed of hydrophilic amino acids. Beta-elimination reaction was performed and at least two amino acids, serine and threonine residues, appeared to be the amino acids of the carbohydrate-protein linkage regions of chondroitin sulphate fractions.
(4) Optical rotatory dispersion of acid mucopolysaccharide-methylene blue complexes suggested that chondroitin sulphate of bovine brain as well as authentic chondroitin sulphate A and C belonged to right-screw sense helical acid mucopolysaccharides, while heparin belonged to left-screw sense.     

Nature and distribution of chondroitin sulphate and dermatan sulphate proteoglycans in rabbit alveolar bone

Summary The type and distribution of mineral binding and collagenous matrix-associated chondroitin sulphate and dermatan sulphate proteoglycans in rabbit alveolar bone were studied biochemically and immunocytochemically, using three monoclonal antibodies (mAb 2B6, 3B3, and 1B5). The antibodies specifically recognize oligosaccharide stubs that remain attached to the core protein after enzymatic digestion of proteoglycans and identify epitopes in chondroitin 4-sulphate and dermatan sulphate; chondroitin 6-sulphate and unsulphated chondroitin; and unsulphated chondroitin, respectively. In addition, mAb 2B6 detects chondroitin 4-sulphate with chondroitinase ACII pre-treatment, and dermatan sulphate with chondroitinase B pre-treatment. Bone proteins were extracted from fresh specimens with a three-step extraction procedure: 4m guanidine HCl (G-1 extract), 0.4m EDTA (E-extract), followed by guanidine HCl (G-2 extract), to characterize mineral binding and collagenous matrix associated proteoglycans in E- and G2-extracts, respectively. Biochemical results using Western blot analysis of SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of E- and G2-extracts demonstrated that mineral binding proteoglycans contain chondroitin 4-sulphate, chondroitin 6-sulphate, and dermatan sulphate, whereas collagenous matrix associated proteoglycans showed a predominance of dermatan sulphate with a trace of chondroitin 4-sulphate and no detectable chondroitin 6-sulphate or unsulphated chondroitin. Immunocytochemistry showed that staining associated with the mineral phase was limited to the walls of osteocytic lacunae and bone canaliculi, whereas staining associated with the matrix phase was seen on and between collagen fibrils in the remainder of the bone matrix. These results indicate that mineral binding proteoglycans having chondroitin 4-sulphate, dermatan sulphate, and chondroitin 6-sulphate were localized preferentially in the walls of the lacunocanalicular system, whereas collagenous associated dermatan sulphate proteoglycans were distributed over the remainder of the bone matrix.     

The presence of a cartilage-like proteoglycan in the adult human meniscus.

Proteoglycans were extracted from the adult human meniscus under dissociative conditions and purified by CsCl-density-gradient centrifugation. The preparations of highest density contained proteoglycan that possessed the ability to interact with hyaluronic acid, was of large subunit size and was composed of chondroitin sulphate, keratan sulphate and sialic acid-containing oligosaccharides. This 'cartilage-like' proteoglycan also exhibited subunit and aggregate structures analogous to those of hyaline-cartilage proteoglycans when examined by electron microscopy. However, the composition of this proteoglycan was more comparable with proteoglycans from immature cartilage than from age-matched cartilage. The preparations from lower density, which were enriched in dermatan sulphate, contained smaller proteoglycan that was not able to interact with hyaluronic acid. This non-aggregating proteoglycan may be structurally distinct from the 'cartilage-like' proteoglycan, which does not contain dermatan sulphate.