Connective tissue polysaccharides

Mixed polysaccharides from animal connective tissue. 

Hyaluronic acid is a linear polysaccharide found in the highest concentrations in soft connective tissues where it fills an important structural role in the organization of the extracellular matrix (23,24). It has been used in ophthalmic preparations to enhance ocular absorption of timolol, a beta blocker used for the treatment of glaucoma (25), and in a viscoelastic tear formulation for conjunctivitis (26). The covalent binding of adriamycin and daunomycin to sodium hy-aluronate to produce water-soluble conjugates was recently reported (27). 

The whole of a multi-cellular organism is contained by outer cell layers, which are described in biology texts, and maintained by connective tissue. Connective tissue is a novel, external biopolymer structure of multi-cellular organisms found within their new extracellular, circulating fluid compartments (see Section 8.9). As mentioned there, the main connective tissues, covalently cross-linked structures, are (1) those of plants, celluloses (polysaccharides), often cross-linked by lignin (2) those of lower animals and insects, mixed cross-linked polysaccharides and... 

Dermatan sulfate, also termed chondroitin sulfate B, a related glycosaminoglycan constituent of connective tissue, was known to be composed of galactosamine and a uronic acid, originally believed to be glucuronic acid but then claimed to be iduronic acid based largely on color reactions and paper chromatography. However, the d or L-enantiomer status of the latter monosaccharide was not clear. Jeanloz and Stoffyn unequivocally characterized the monosaccharide as L-iduronic acid by consecutive desulfation, reduction, and hydrolysis of the polysaccharide, followed by isolation of the crystalline 2,3,4-tri-0-acetyl-l,6-anhydro-/ -L-idopyranose, which was shown to be identical to an authentic specimen synthesized from 1,2-0-isopropylidene-/ -L-idofuranose.34... 

The phosphate esters and, to lesser extent, the sulphate esters of monosaccharides are very important naturally occurring derivatives. Metabolism of carbohydrates involves the formation and interconversion of a succession of monosaccharides and their phosphate esters of which glucose-1-phosphate and fruc-tose-6-phosphate are important examples. The sulphate esters of monosaccharides or their derivatives (usually esterified at carbon 6) are found in several polysaccharides, notably chondroitin sulphate, which is a constituent of connective tissues. 

More complex polysaccharides play important roles in connective tissues and elsewhere. For example, hyaluronic acid is universally present in connective tissues of animals, as well as in their vitreous and synovial fluids. It helps to provide the fluids present in joints with shock-absorbing and lubricating properties. Unlike cellulose, chitin, starch, and glycogen, hyaluronic acid contains two different monomers glucose and N-acetylglucosamine alternate in the structure. Thus, hyaluronic acid is a regular alternating copolymer ABABABA —... 

Proteoglycans are widely distributed throughout the body, being most abundant in connective tissue, where they may contribute up to 30% of that tissue s dry weight. They consist of a polypeptide backbone to which heteropolysaccharide chains are attached. However, unlike glycoproteins, proteolycans consist of up to, or in excess of, 95% carbohydrate and their properties resemble those of polysaccharides more than those of proteins. 

By constricting the vascular bed, such coadministered vasoactive excipients as epinephrine can reduce the rate of uptake from the SC sites (4a). By contrast, the excipient hyaluronidase breaks down the interstitial barrier by lysing hyaluronic acid, a polysaccharide that helps form the intercellular ground substance of connective tissue (4b). This in effect spreads the injected drug solution over a larger area of connective tissue, increasing the absorption surface, and thereby increasing both the volume that can normally be injected SC (Table 1) and the rate of uptake (6). 

In each of these formulas additional free OH groups are available on the silicon so that it is possible to crosslink more than two polysaccharide chains. Silicon may function as a biological crosslinking agent in connective tissue. Silaffins, small polypeptides containing polyamine side chains of modified lysine residues, apparently initiate silica formation from silicic acid in diatoms.0... 

Comper, W.D. and Laurent, T.C. (1978) Physiological function of connective tissue polysaccharides. Physiol. Rev., 58, 255-315. 

The final Klebsiella polysaccharide that will be mentioned specifically is KZS, whose chemical structure was determined by Niemann et al (24) (Figure 30). This polysaccharide is of particular interesT because its backbone consists of a similar alternating 1, 3 diequatorial, 1, 4 diequatorial glycosidic linkage geometry to that found in the connective tissue polysaccharides, hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulphate and dermatan sulphate (25). All these three polysaccharides have exhibited 3-fold helical conformations with axially projected chemical repeats in the range 0.95 - 0.97 nm which is comparable to 0.97 nm found in K25 which also forms a 3-fold helix (14). Further, left-handed helices were found to be more favourable in K25 as has previously been observed in the connective tissue polysaccharides. The similarities between these various different structures is apparent in Figure 31 which shows projections down the axis of K25 and several of the connective tissue polysaccharides. 

L. Roden Biosynthesis of connective tissue polysaccharides F. Shafizadeh Thermal reactions of cellulosic materials... 

L-Iduronic acid is part of the structure of some polysaccharides found in connective tissue. How could this sugar be formed in a one-step reaction from D-glucuronic acid ... 

Hyaluronic acid is a component of the extracellular ground substance which surrounds the collagen and elastin fibres and cells of connective tissue [64], It is a member of the group of polysaccharides isolated from vertebrate connective tissues which were formerly called mucopolysaccharides and are now more commonly referred to as glycosaminoglycans [65,66], Glycosaminoglycans commonly occur in vivo as proteoglycans. 

In Volume 33 of this Series, we presented1 a review of the crystalline structures of polysaccharides published during the period 1967-1974. Detailed accounts of progress in structural studies on specific types of polysaccharides were presented in the Proceedings of the Twenty-sixth Symposium of the Colston Research Society and were subsequently published as a book.2 Precise methods for X-ray diffraction analysis of biopolymer structures were discussed by Hukins.3 The aspects of the structures of cellulose, mannan, and xylan, their organization in the cell wall, and the biosynthesis of cell-wall polysaccharides were described by Mackie.4 Work on the structures of the connective-tissue polysaccharides, O-acetylcellulose, and the various forms of amylose was reviewed by Atkins,5 Chanzy,6 and Sarko,7... 

The extracellular matrix is the extracellular part of animal tissues that provides structural support it is the defining feature of connective tissue. Extracellular matrix includes the interstitial matrix and the basement membrane. Interstitial matrix is present between the cells (that is, in the intercellular spaces) it consists of polysaccharides and fibrous proteins, which act as a compression buffer. Basement membranes are sheet-like depositions of extracellular matrix on which various epithelial cells rest. 

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