Glycosaminoglycans GAGs

Being an alternating copolymer of ahexosamine and an alduronic acid, heparin belongs to the class of glycosaminoglycans (GAG), formerly... 

From the biological viewpoint, glycosaminoglycans (GAGS) are one of the most relevant oligo- and polysaccharides. The access to new NMR hardware and software, as well as the employment of new synthetic and molecular biology protocols have permitted important advances in the comprehension of their structural and conformational properties, as well as deeply study different examples of their interaction with receptors. 

Fig. 2. Kinetics of cross-linking of chondroitin 6-sulfate, a glycosaminoglycan (GAG), to collagen following exposure to 105 °C under 6.7 Pa (50 mtorr). The mechanism of cross-linking is most probably interchain amide condensation involving e-amino groups of lysyl residues on collagen chains with carboxylic groups on glucuronic acid residues in neighboring GAG chains (From [30] with permission).

Marine sulfated polysaccharides (MSPs), such as sulfated fucans (SFs), sulfated galactans (SGs), and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) isolated from invertebrate animals, are highly anionic polysaccharides capable of interacting with certain cationic proteins, such as... 

Fig. 4.1.5 Examples of a positive (a) and a negative (b) Berry spot test from urine. The filter paper will remain light blue after washing. The pink spot is typical for elevated glycosaminoglycan (GAG) excretion...

Table 4.1.2 Age-dependent reference ranges for glycosaminoglycan (GAG) concentrations in urine (healthy controls) using the standard 1,9-dimethylene blue (DMB) method...

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are unbranched chains having repeating disaccharide units, which, with the exception of keratan sulfate, contain an acid and a base. The KS disaccharide unit consists of a hexose and a base. The structures of the different classes of GAG disaccharide units are given in Fig. 1, and summarized in Table I. 

Fig. 1.—Structure of Different Disaccharide Units of Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs).

There are several pro-angiogenic factors that promote angiogenesis (Table 2). Those include growth factors, hormone receptor agonists, pro-coagulants, extracellular matrix proteins, or glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). 

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