Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, USA.
Glycosciences Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Imperial College, London, UK.
Methods Mol Biol. 2022;2303:183-207. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1398-6_16.
Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are sulfated glycans of complex structure and multiple biological actions. They are composed of disaccharide repeating units of alternating uronic acid/galactose and hexosamine. Sulfation patterns are an additional structural variation of these polymers. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is one of the most powerful analytical techniques employed in structural analysis of GAGs. 1D and 2D NMR spectra, both homonuclear H and heteronuclear H-C, are the commonest NMR methods used. This chapter describes the overall experimental methods and materials necessary for adequate preparation of GAG samples for NMR investigations aimed to unveil the main structural characteristics of these biomacromolecules. The NMR methods discussed here cover all three isotopes (H, C, and N) that can be exploited in structural analysis of GAGs. These NMR methods are described from an overall standpoint, to be applied to any GAG family, extracted from either natural or synthetic sources and destined to either basic research or pharmaceutical applications.
糖胺聚糖(GAGs)是结构复杂且具有多种生物学作用的硫酸化聚糖。它们由交替的糖醛酸/半乳糖和己糖胺组成的二糖重复单元构成。这些聚合物的额外结构变化是硫酸化模式。核磁共振(NMR)光谱是用于 GAG 结构分析的最强大的分析技术之一。1D 和 2D NMR 光谱,包括同核 H 和异核 H-C,是最常用的 NMR 方法。本章描述了用于 NMR 研究的 GAG 样品充分制备所需的总体实验方法和材料,目的是揭示这些生物大分子的主要结构特征。这里讨论的 NMR 方法涵盖了可用于 GAG 结构分析的所有三种同位素(H、C 和 N)。这些 NMR 方法从整体角度进行描述,可应用于任何从天然或合成来源提取的 GAG 家族,无论是用于基础研究还是药物应用。