New oligosaccharides from heparin and heparan sulfate and their use as substrates for heparin-degrading enzymes.

Oligosaccharides were isolated from heparin and heparan sulfate by a procedure consisting of three major steps: (a) acid hydrolysis; (b) gel chromatography; and (c) cation exchange chromatography on an amino acid analyzer. To date, six new oligosaccharides have been isolated by this procedure and have been sequenced by a combination of NaB3H4-labeling and deaminative cleavage with nitrous acid. The structures of these oligosaccharides were as follows: 1. GlcN-GlcUA-GlcN 2. GlcN-IdUA-GlcN 3. GlcN-GlcUA-GlcN-GlcUA-GlcN 4. GlcN-IdUA-GlcN-GlcUA-GlcN 5. GlcN-GlcUA-GlcN-IdUA-GlcN 6. GlcN-IdUA-GlcN-IdUA-GlcN The linkage positions and anomeric configurations were assumed to be the same as in the polysaccharides from which the oligosaccharides originated. The usefulness of some of these oligosaccharides as enzyme substrates was tested after appropriate modifications and radioactive labeling. Oligosaccharides 2 and 3 were N-[35S]sulfated and were found to serve as substrates for heparan N-sulfate sulfatase (heparin sulfamidase), with a homogenate of cultured skin fibroblasts as enzyme source. Similarly, reduction of oligosaccharide 2 with NaB3H4 yielded a substrate for acetyl-CoA:alpha-D-glucosaminide N-acetyltransferase. Finally, the previously known disaccharide, 4-O-alpha-D-glucosaminyl-L-iduronic acid, which was isolated in the course of this work, was N-acetylated with [3H] acetic anhydride and was shown to be a substrate for N-acetyl-alpha-D-glucosaminidase.