Structure of Dermatan Sulfate

Abstract

Abstract The products obtained after digestion of dermatan sulfate with testicular hyaluronidase have been investigated. Stepwise precipitation with ethanol (18, 25, 40, and 50%) and gel filtration of the material soluble in 50% ethanol yielded a number of polysaccharide and oligosaccharide fractions, ranging in molecular weight from 500 (disaccharide) to 16,000. Analysis of a tetrasaccharide fraction which contained both d-glucuronic and l-iduronic acid demonstrated that it was a mixture of chondroitin 4-sulfate tetrasaccharide and a hybrid tetrasaccharide of the following structure: [see PDF for equation] An analogous, unsulfated tetrasaccharide was found in an acid hydrolysate of dermatan sulfate. Besides its oligosaccharide components, the hyaluronidase digest also contained glycopeptides, presumably derived from the carbohydrate-protein linkage region.