Thermodynamics of calcium binding to heparin: Implications of solvation and water structuring for polysaccharide biofunctions.

ABSTRACT: Heparan sulfates are found in all animal tissues and have essential roles in living systems. This family of biomacromolecules modulates binding to calcium ions (Ca²⁺) in low free energy reactions that influence biochemical processes from cell signaling and anticoagulant efficacy to biomineralization. Despite their ubiquity, the thermodynamic basis for how heparans and similarly functionalized biomolecules regulate Ca²⁺ interactions is not yet established. Using heparosan (Control) and heparins with different positions of sulfate groups, we quantify how SO₃^- and COO^- content and SO₃^- position modulate Ca²⁺ binding by isothermal titration calorimetry. The free energy of all heparin-Ca²⁺ interac

SUBMITTER: Knight BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12415203 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature