Zachary Shriver

Methods for Structural Analysis of Heparin and Heparan Sulfate

Publisher Summary Heparin (HP) and heparan sulfate (HS) are complex, linear, and acidic polysaccharides belonging to the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) family. They contain linear chains of repeating disaccharide units consisting of a glucosamine and a uronic acid. A broad range of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) techniques are available for the analysis of GAGs. The utility of HPLC for the analysis of HP and HS includes identifying and purifying different types of GAGs, measuring their molecular weight, establishing their disaccharide building blocks, and providing a complimentary tool for their sequencing. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy represents an important technique in the structural analysis of GAGs. It is one of the few techniques that provides structural information on the intact polymer without resorting to chemical or enzymatic cleavage. High-field NMR analysis has also been used for probing the structure and sequence of purified oligosaccharides from HP and HS. NMR on HP and HS represents a very accurate method for direct quantification of the glucuronic and iduronic acid content in the polymer.