In vitro labelling of heparin with chromium-51

Semi-synthetic heparin derivatives: chemical modifications of heparin beyond chain length, sulfate substitution pattern and N-sulfo/N-acetyl groups

The glycosaminoglycan heparin is a polyanionic polysaccharide most recognized for its anticoagulant activity. Heparin binds to cationic regions in hundreds of prokaryotic and eukaryotic proteins, termed heparin-binding proteins. The endogenous ligand for many of these heparin-binding proteins is a structurally similar glycosaminoglycan, heparan sulfate (HS). Chemical and biosynthetic modifications of heparin and HS have been employed to discern specific sequences and charge-substitution patterns required for these polysaccharides to bind specific proteins, with the goal of understanding structural requirements for protein binding well enough to elucidate the function of the saccharide-protein interactions and/or to develop new or improved heparin-based pharmaceuticals. The most common modifications to heparin structure have been alteration of sulfate substitution patterns, carboxyl reduction, replacement N-sulfo groups with N-acetyl groups, and chain fragmentation. However, an accumulation of reports over the past 50 years describe semi-synthetic heparin derivatives obtained by incorporating aliphatic, aryl, and heteroaryl moieties into the heparin structure. A primary goal in many of these reports has been to identify heparin-derived structures as new or improved heparin-based therapeutics. Presented here is a perspective on the introduction of non-anionic structural motifs into heparin structure, with a focus on such modifications as a strategy to generate novel reduced-charge heparin-based bind-and-block antagonists of HS-protein interactions. The chemical methods employed to synthesize such derivatives, as well as other unique heparin conjugates, are reviewed.

Evidence that Thy-1 and Ly-5 (T-200) antigens interact with sulphated carbohydrates

Recent studies have demonstrated that lymphocytes express an array of cell surface receptors for sulphated polysaccharides (SP). Experiments were undertaken to determine the binding characteristics of these receptors and establish whether any known lymphocyte cell surface antigens interact with sulphated carbohydrates. It was found that murine thymocytes lack receptors for chondroitin-4-sulphate but express saturable, high affinity binding sites for heparin, fucoidan and dextran sulphate, with an apparent affinity constant range of 0.03-2.6 x 10(-9) mol/l. Binding inhibition experiments revealed one class of binding sites on murine thymocytes that is shared by heparin, fucoidan and dextran sulphate and another class of sites that is dextran sulphate-specific. The cell surface receptors for the SP were affinity-purified by applying detergent lysates of 125I-labelled thymocyte membranes to SP-coupled solid supports. It was found that the Thy-1 and Ly-5 (T-200 or leucocyte common antigen) molecules of murine thymocytes bind to sulphated carbohydrates, although the two molecules differed substantially in their reactivity with the four different SP tested. Furthermore, only subpopulations of the Thy-1 and Ly-5 molecules interacted with sulphated sugars. Four additional sulphated carbohydrate-binding molecules were also detected. It is suggested that the SP-binding molecules are involved in the interaction of lymphocytes with glycosaminoglycans on other cells and in the interstitial space.