Structure activity relationship in heparin: stimulation of non-vascular cells by a synthetic heparin pentasaccharide in cooperation with human acidic fibroblast growth factors.

Heparin enhances strongly the mitogenic properties of human acidic fibroblast growth factor (h-aFGF) on hamster fibroblast (CCL 39) or bovine lens epithelial cells (BEL). We report here that a synthetic heparin pentasaccharide with high affinity for antithrombin III has the same effect as heparin at about the same concentration. Thus a pentasaccharidic sequence may represent the shortest heparin structure which interacts with h-aFGF.