MIT, United States.
Heparin and heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans comprise a chemically heterogeneous class of sulfated polysaccharides. The development of structure-activity relationships for this class of polysaccharides requires the identification and characterization of degrading enzymes with defined substrate specificity and enzymatic activity. Towards this end, we report here the molecular cloning and extensive structure-function analysis of a 6-O-sulfatase from the gram-negative bacterium Flavobacterium heparinum .