ABSTRACT
Heparanase is an endo-β-d-glucuronidase that cleaves the heparan sulfate chains of heparan sulfate proteoglycans
and is implicated in angiogenesis and metastasis. With the aim of establishing a simple
and reliable method for studying the susceptibility of heparin/heparan sulfate oligosaccharides
to be cleaved by heparanase, an on-line ion pair reversed-phase high-performance liquid
chromatographic/electrospray ionization mass spectrometric method was set up. The
method works in the micromolar range of concentration and does not require derivatization
of the substrate or of the products. It is based on mass identification of oligosaccharide
fragments generated by heparanase and their quantification with reference to an internal
heparin disaccharide standard. Substrates were (1) the synthetic pentasaccharides
GlcNNS,6S - GlcA - GlcNNS,3S,6S - IdoA2S - GlcNNS,6S - OMe (AGA*IAM) and GlcNNS,6S - GlcA - GlcNNS,6S - IdoA2S - GlcNNS,6S - OMe (AGAIAM), corresponding to the heparin/heparan sulfate active site for antithrombin, and
to the same sequence devoid of the 3-O-sulfate group in the central glucosamine, respectively; and (2) two natural heparin
octasaccharides containing the AGA*IA sequence in different locations along the chain.
The two pentasaccharides exhibited a higher susceptibility to heparanase cleavage
with respect to the octasaccharides. The commercial availability of AGA*IAM makes it an ideal substrate to determine the specific activity of heparanase preparations.
The present method could also be used for rapid screening of potential heparanase
inhibitors.
KEYWORDS
Heparanase - heparin oligosaccharides - cleavability by heparanase - mass spectrometry.
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Dr. Antonella Bisio
Institute for Chemical and Biochemical Research “G. Ronzoni”, Via G. Colombo 81
20133 Milan, Italy
Email: bisio@ronzoni.it