Sulfamate proton solvent exchange in heparin oligosaccharides: evidence for a persistent hydrogen bond in the antithrombin-binding pentasaccharide Arixtra.

Derek J Langeslay, Robert P Young, Szabolcs Beni, Consuelo N Beecher, Leonard J Mueller, Cynthia K Larive

Index: Glycobiology 22(9) , 1173-82, (2012)

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Abstract

Sulfamate groups (NHSO(3)(-)) are important structural elements in the glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) heparin and heparan sulfate (HS). In this work, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) line-shape analysis is used to explore the solvent exchange properties of the sulfamate NH groups within heparin-related mono-, di-, tetra- and pentasaccharides as a function of pH and temperature. The results of these experiments identified a persistent hydrogen bond within the Arixtra (fondaparinux sodium) pentasaccharide between the internal glucosamine sulfamate NH and the adjacent 3-O-sulfo group. This discovery provides new insights into the solution structure of the Arixtra pentasaccharide and suggests that 3-O-sulfation of the heparin N-sulfoglucosamine (GlcNS) residues pre-organize the secondary structure in a way that facilitates binding to antithrombin-III. NMR studies of the GlcNS NH groups can provide important information about heparin structure complementary to that available from NMR spectral analysis of the carbon-bound protons.