Chemical synthesis of heparin fragments and analogues

Novel, Precise, Accurate Ion-Pairing Method to Determine the Related Substances of the Fondaparinux Sodium Drug Substance: Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin

Fondaparinux sodium is a synthetic low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH). This medication is an anticoagulant or a blood thinner, prescribed for the treatment of pulmonary embolism and prevention and treatment of deep vein thrombosis. Its determination in the presence of related impurities was studied and validated by a novel ion-pair HPLC method. The separation of the drug and its degradation products was achieved with the polymer-based PLRPs column (250 mm × 4.6 mm; 5 μm) in gradient elution mode. The mixture of 100 mM n-hexylamine and 100 mM acetic acid in water was used as buffer solution. Mobile phase A and mobile phase B were prepared by mixing the buffer and acetonitrile in the ratio of 90:10 (v/v) and 20:80 (v/v), respectively. Mobile phases were delivered in isocratic mode (2% B for 0-5 min) followed by gradient mode (2-85% B in 5-60 min). An Evaporative Light Scattering Detector (ELSD) was connected to the LC system to detect the responses of chromatographic separation. Further, the drug was subjected to stress studies for acidic, basic, oxidative, photolytic, and thermal degradations as per ICH guidelines and the drug was found to be labile in acid, base hydrolysis, and oxidation, while stable in neutral, thermal, and photolytic degradation conditions. The method provided linear responses over the concentration range of the LOQ to 0.30% for each impurity with respect to the analyte concentration of 12.5 mg/mL, and regression analysis showed a correlation coefficient value (r(2)) of more than 0.99 for all the impurities. The LOD and LOQ were found to be 1.4 µg/mL and 4.1 µg/mL, respectively, for fondaparinux. The developed ion-pair method was validated as per ICH guidelines with respect to accuracy, selectivity, precision, linearity, and robustness.

Chemoenzymatic synthesis and structural characterization of 2-O-sulfated glucuronic acid-containing heparan sulfate hexasaccharides

Heparan sulfate and heparin are highly sulfated polysaccharides that consist of a repeating disaccharide unit of glucosamine and glucuronic or iduronic acid. The 2-O-sulfated iduronic acid (IdoA2S) residue is commonly found in heparan sulfate and heparin; however, 2-O-sulfated glucuronic acid (GlcA2S) is a less abundant monosaccharide (∼<5% of total saccharides). Here, we report the synthesis of three GlcA2S-containing hexasaccharides using a chemoenzymatic approach. For comparison purposes, additional IdoA2S-containing hexasaccharides were synthesized. Nuclear magnetic resonance analyses were performed to obtain full chemical shift assignments for the GlcA2S- and IdoA2S-hexasaccharides. These data show that GlcA2S is a more structurally rigid saccharide residue than IdoA2S. The antithrombin (AT) binding affinities of a GlcA2S- and an IdoA2S-hexasaccharide were determined by affinity co-electrophoresis. In contrast to IdoA2S-hexasaccharides, the GlcA2S-hexasaccharide does not bind to AT, confirming that the presence of IdoA2S is critically important for the anticoagulant activity. The availability of pure synthetic GlcA2S-containing oligosaccharides will allow the investigation of the structure and activity relationships of individual sites in heparin or heparan sulfate.

Anticoagulant heparan sulfate: structural specificity and biosynthesis

Heparan sulfate (HS) is present on the surface of endothelial and surrounding tissues in large quantities. It plays important roles in regulating numerous functions of the blood vessel wall, including blood coagulation, inflammation response, and cell differentiation. HS is a highly sulfated polysaccharide containing glucosamine and glucuronic/iduronic acid repeating disaccharide units. The unique sulfated saccharide sequences of HS determine its specific functions. Heparin, an analog of HS, is the most commonly used anticoagulant drug. Because of its wide range of biological functions, HS has become an interesting molecule to biochemists, medicinal chemists, and developmental biologists. In this review, we summarize recent progress toward understanding the interaction between HS and blood-coagulating factors, the biosynthesis of anticoagulant HS and the mechanism of action of HS biosynthetic enzymes. Furthermore, knowledge of the biosynthesis of HS facilitates the development of novel enzymatic approaches to synthesize HS from bacterial capsular polysaccharides and to produce polysaccharide end products with high specificity for the biological target. These advancements provide the foundation for the development of polysaccharide-based therapeutic agents.

Characterization of the structure of antithrombin-binding heparan sulfate generated by heparan sulfate 3-O-sulfotransferase 5

The 3-O-sulfation of glucosamine is a key modification step during the biosynthesis of anticoagulant heparan sulfate (HS). Both heparan sulfate 3-O-sulfotransferase -1 (3-OST-1) and 3-O-sulfotransferase-5 (3-OST-5) transfer sulfate to the 3-OH group of glucosamine to generate antithrombin-binding heparan sulfate (HS(act)). Here, we reported the isolation and characterization of the antithrombin-binding HS oligosaccharides generated by 3-OST-5 (3-OST-5 oligo(act)). (3)H-labeled HS of Chinese hamster ovary cells was exhaustively modified by 3-OST-1 to remove the 3-OST-1 modification sites followed by antithrombin-affinity fractionation. The non-antithrombin-binding fraction of 3-OST-1 pretreated HS was further modified by 3-OST-5 to generate additional antithrombin-binding HS, which was designated as 3-OST-5 HS(act). Structural analysis of 3-OST-5 HS(act) revealed that the antithrombin-binding site of 3-OST-5 HS(act) is located within a domain clustered with N-sulfated glucosamine units. We also isolated 3-OST-5 antithrombin-binding oligosaccharides (3-OST-5 oligo(act)) from high pH nitrous acid degraded 3-OST-5 HS(act). A disaccharide analysis revealed that 3-OST-5 oligo(act) were composed of multiple 3-O-sulfated glucosamine units. Our results provide additional insights on the relationship between the anticoagulant activity and structure of HS.

Short- and long-acting synthetic pentasaccharides

Inhibition of activated coagulation factor X (FXa) is an attractive target for antithrombotic treatment strategies, because of the central position of FXa in the coagulation cascade. Most of the now available anticoagulant drugs have inhibitory effects not only on FXa, but also on thrombin. With the development of pentasaccharides, a new class of antithrombotic agents has emerged that acts by specific inhibition of FXa and lacks activity against FIIa. Fondaparinux, the first synthetic short-acting pentasaccharide, has been evaluated, in a large phase II and III clinical programme concerning prophylaxis and treatment of venous thromboembolism and also in phase II studies in patients with acute coronary syndromes. Idraparinux, the long-acting pentasaccharide, has been studied in a dose-finding study in patients with established deep-vein thrombosis and phase III studies are now planned in patients with venous thromboembolism and in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Pentasaccharides

Fondaparinux sodium is the first in a new class of antithrombotic agents possessing selective inhibitory activity against factor Xa. The agent was designed and developed with the objective of overcoming the limitations of currently available therapies for the prevention and treatment of venous and arterial thromboembolic disease. Extensive data from preclinical and clinical trials demonstrate fondaparinux's favorable pharmacokinetic profile combined with promising efficacy and safety results in the prevention of venous thromboembolism following major orthopedic surgery, in the treatment of deep venous thrombosis, and in acute coronary syndromes.

Introducing a C-interglycosidic bond in a biologically active pentasaccharide hardly affects its biological properties

We describe here the synthesis and the biological activity of a 'C-pentasaccharide', a new analogue of the antithrombin III (AT III) binding region of heparin containing a methylene bridge in place of an interglycosidic oxygen atom. The affinity for AT III and the anti-factor Xa activity of this compound have been compared with that of the corresponding selected 'O-pentasaccharide'. Such a structural modification slightly decreased the affinity of this compound for AT III as well as its anti-factor Xa activity (880 +/- 40 anti-Xa units versus 1180 +/- 30 anti-Xa units for the C-pentasaccharide and the O-pentasaccharide, respectively). This compound therefore represents the first example of a new class of anti-factor Xa pentasaccharides containing a C-interglycosidic bond.

Synthetic analogues of the antithrombin III-binding pentasaccharide sequence of heparin. Prediction of in vivo residence times

The synthetic pentasaccharide Org 31540/SR 90107A represents the antithrombin III (ATIII) binding region of heparin and accelerates the ATIII-mediated inhibition of coagulation factor Xa. This compound and 15 structural analogues with ATIII binding constants (Kd) ranging from 2.7 to 2600 nmol/L were compared for their plasma elimination in rats as measured from their factor Xa inhibiting activity. After administration of a low dose (100 nmol/kg body wt IV), each pentasaccharide showed a characteristic plasma half-life varying from a minimum of 0.3 hour for pentasaccharides with low affinity for ATIII to 10.9 hours for pentasaccharides with high affinity for the protein. The latter value was close to the half-life measured for radioiodinated rat ATIII (11.8 hours). We hypothesized that the elimination half-life of pentasaccharides is markedly extended by ATIII binding, of which the extent is governed by the Kd of the complex. The following observations support this hypothesis. The low-dose, low-affinity pentasaccharides were almost fully recovered in the urine without having lost anti-factor Xa activity, whereas compounds with high ATIII binding affinity were only partly recovered in the urine. With a high dose (500 nmol/kg body wt), a rapid plasma clearance of pentasaccharide was observed until a concentration similar to that of endogenous ATIII was reached, in accordance with their expected 1:1 stoichiometric interaction. The elimination of half-life was similar to that of the low dose. The relation between Kd values and plasma half-lives could be explained by assuming rapid clearance of free and coclearance of ATIII-bound pentasaccharide with the protein.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)