Glycosaminoglycans, crystal structure

This article, which is the fourth in the current series,1 presents a bibliographic account of the crystal structures of polysaccharides that have been published during 1977-1979. Several comprehensive reviews on the structures of glycosaminoglycans,2-5 bacterial capsular polysaccharides,3 4,6 starch,7-9 and cell-wall polysaccharides,10 and on... 

Polysaccharide lyase Family 8 (PL 8). This family encompasses lyases acting upon mammalian connective tissue glycosaminoglycans, and for this reason is the best investigated, with a number of crystal structures available. It has a two-domain fold with an (a/ot)5 toroid connected to a domain almost exclusively of (3-sheet. The reactions catalysed are syn eliminations, with available evidence indicating an irreversible 1cb mechanism, in which the intermediate enolate is stabilised by hydrogen bonding, rather than metal ions, and both deprotonation of C5 and protonation of 04 are carried out by the same tyrosine residue. 

The chemistry of heparin, the crystal structures of sodium and calcium heparinates, the clinical uses, etc., of heparin, and the biosynthesis and structures of dermatan sulphate, heparin, and heparan sulphate have been reviewed. The structures and the conformations of glycosaminoglycans are discussed in a book dealing with the shapes of polysaccharides. ... 

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