Molecular structure of heparan sulfate from Spalax. Implications of heparanase and hypoxia.

ABSTRACT: Spalax, a subterranean blind mole rat, is well adapted to live in an extreme hypoxic environment through up-regulated expression of growth factors and enzymes for ensuring sufficient oxygen supply. One of the overexpressed enzymes is heparanase, an endoglucuronidase that selectively cleaves heparan sulfate (HS) and is implicated in angiogenesis. To assess the implications of the heparanase in Spalax, we have characterized the structure of HS isolated from various organs of the animal. The oligosaccharides obtained after deaminative cleavage of HS samples from the tissues show an overall higher sulfation degree, distinct from that of murine tissues. Of particular significance was the appearance of a trisaccharide moiety in the tissues examined, apart of the even numbered oligosaccharide fra

SUBMITTER: Sandwall E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2635051 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature