Sulfated monosaccharide modifications

Sulfated carbohydrates are present from bacteria to human [1]. A wide range of monosaccharide modifications have been reported, some of which are listed in Table 1. As sulfate modifications are extensive and tend to occur in clusters in glycoproteins, they significantly affect the physicochemical character of carbohydrate chains and protein scaffolds, particularly by imparting a net negative charge at physiological pH. In addition, sulfation provides a further diversification mecha-... 

Fig. 18.1. The catabolism of dermatan sulfate. The arrows point to the group removed by the action of a glycosidase (removal of a monosaccharide) or sulfatase (removal of a sulfate group). The degradation starts at the non-reducing terminus of the molecule and removes modifications such as sulfate followed by the removal of the monosaccharide group until the polysaccharide is degraded to its individual components...

Carbohydrates exhibit enormous diversity because of variation in monosaccharide composition, glycosidic linkage positions, and chain branching [17], Further diversity is achieved by covalent modification of carbohydrates via acetylation, methyl-ation, phosphorylation, and sulfation [1]. Sulfation can be incorporated into the carbohydrates of glycolipids and glycoproteins. Modifications of both A-linked and 0-linked chains are found. 

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