Divergent Synthesis of Heparan Sulfate Oligosaccharides

J Org Chem. 2015 Dec 18;80(24):12265-79. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.5b02172. Epub 2015 Dec 4.

Abstract

Heparan sulfates are implicated in a wide range of biological processes. A major challenge in deciphering their structure and activity relationship is the synthetic difficulties to access diverse heparan sulfate oligosaccharides with well-defined sulfation patterns. In order to expedite the synthesis, a divergent synthetic strategy was developed. By integrating chemical synthesis and two types of O-sulfo transferases, seven different hexasaccharides were obtained from a single hexasaccharide precursor. This approach combined the flexibility of chemical synthesis with the selectivity of enzyme-catalyzed sulfations, thus simplifying the overall synthetic operations. In an attempt to establish structure activity relationships of heparan sulfate binding with its receptor, the synthesized oligosaccharides were incorporated onto a glycan microarray, and their bindings with a growth factor FGF-2 were examined. The unique combination of chemical and enzymatic approaches expanded the capability of oligosaccharide synthesis. In addition, the well-defined heparan sulfate structures helped shine light on the fine substrate specificities of biosynthetic enzymes and confirm the potential sequence of enzymatic reactions in biosynthesis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Biocatalysis
  • Carbohydrate Sequence
  • Heparitin Sulfate / chemical synthesis*
  • Heparitin Sulfate / chemistry
  • Oligosaccharides / chemical synthesis*
  • Oligosaccharides / chemistry
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • Substrate Specificity
  • Transferases / chemistry*
  • Transferases / metabolism

Substances

  • Oligosaccharides
  • Heparitin Sulfate
  • Transferases