Structural analysis of heparan sulfate and heparan sulfate oligosaccharides

Heparan sulfate is a structurally complex biopolymer that has been the subject of active investigation due to it's role in a variety of important biological processes. The activity of heparan sulfate primarily resides in it's glycosaminoglycan chains. This glycosaminoglycan is comprised of a number of diverse structurally disaccharide residues occuring in a variety of different chain lengths. The resulting, highly complex, structure has not been amenable to complete characterization despite the application of a variety of different approaches. Recent structural studies have focused on examining smaller structural domains of this macromolecule, corresponding to those responsible for many of its important biological activities. This mini review examines the preparation, purification and complete characterization of heparan sulfate-derived oligosaccharides. The emphasis of this review is on high resolution separation technology such as high performance liquid chromatography, polyacrylamide gel and capillary electrophoresis as well as unambiguous characterization relying on mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.