Chondroitin 6-sulfate, crystal structure

Figure 4. Helix axis projection of the chondroitin 4-sulfate crystal structure. Molecules with full and open bonds indicate up- and down-pointing chains. The large and small filled circles represent potassium ions and water molecules respectively. (Reproduced with permission from ref. 18. Copyright 1983 Academic Press Inc.)...

Model building in the computer is used to analyze the conformational effects of steric interactions between atoms of the polymer skeleton for x-carrageenan, t-carrageenan, A-carrageenan, agar, chondroltin, chondroitin sulfates, dermatan sulfate, keratan sulfate, hyaluronic acid, and related polysaccharides. Over 99% of the conformations are thus excluded and virtually all of the remainder for each polysaccharide lie close together. Predictions are also made from disaccharide crystal structures and checked against experimental results. 

---