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B Casu

Publications and source records attributed to B Casu.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Biosynthesis of heparin. Availability of glucosaminyl 3-O-sulfation sites.

Heparin preparations isolated from pig intestinal mucosa and from bovine lung were fractionated with regard to affinity for antithrombin. The resulting fractions, with high (HA) or low (LA) affinity for the proteinase inhibitor, were analyzed by 13C NMR or by identification of di- and tetrasaccharides obtained through deaminative cleavage with nitrous acid. Structural differences between corresponding HA and LA fractions were essentially restricted to minor constituents, in particular 3-O-sulfated glucosamine units that occurred (1 or 2 residues/chain) in all HA preparations but were scarce or absent in LA heparin. The HA fractions also consistently showed higher contents of nonsulfated iduronic acid and, to a lesser extent, N-acetylated glucosamine units than the LA fractions. The two tetrasaccharide sequences, -IdoA-GlcNAc(6-OSO3)-GlcA-GlcNSO3- and -IdoA-GlcNAc(6-OSO3)-GlcA-GlcNSO3(6-OSO3)- , recently implicated as part of the acceptor site for glucosaminyl 3-O-sulfate groups (Kusche, M., Bäckström, G., Riesenfeld, J., Petitou, M., Choay, J., and Lindahl, U. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 15474-15484), were identified in mucosal LA heparin; it was calculated that the preparation contained approximately one potential acceptor site/polysaccharide chain. Yet this material did not yield any labeled HA components on incubation with adenosine 3'-phosphate 5'-phospho-[35S]sulfate in the presence of glucosaminyl 3-O-sulfotransferase, solubilized from a mouse mastocytoma microsomal fraction. The failure to incorporate any 3-O-sulfate groups could conceivably be explained by the occurrence of a D-glucuronic rather than L-iduronic acid unit linked at the reducing ends of the above tetrasaccharide sequences. Alternatively, 3-O-sulfation may be restricted by other, as yet unidentified, inhibitory structural elements that are preferentially expressed in polysaccharide sequences selected for the generation of LA heparin.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Conformer populations of L-iduronic acid residues in glycosaminoglycan sequences.

The 1H-n.m.r. 3J values for the L-iduronic acid (IdoA) residues for solutions in D2O of natural and synthetic oligosaccharides that represent the biologically important sequences of dermatan sulfate, heparan sulfate, and heparin have been rationalized by force-field calculations. The relative proportions of the low-energy conformers 1C4, 2S0, and 4C1 vary widely as a function of sequence and of pattern of sulfation. When IdoA or IdoA-2-sulfate units are present inside saccharide sequences, only 1C4 and 2S0 conformations contribute significantly to the equilibrium. This equilibrium is displaced towards the 2S0 form when IdoA-2-sulfate is preceded by a 3-O-sulfated amino sugar residue, and towards the 1C4 form when it is a non-reducing terminal. For terminal non-sulfated IdoA, the 4C1 form also contributes to the equilibrium. N.O.e. data confirm these conclusions. Possible biological implications of the conformational flexibility and the counter-ion induced changes in conformer populations are discussed.

Carbohydrate Conformation↗
PubMed1990

Anticoagulant and antithrombotic effects of chemically modified heparins and pentosanpolysulfate.

Pig mucosal heparin (GAG 98), in which the binding site for antithrombin had been inactivated by periodate oxidation (GAG 262), a supersulfated low-molecular-weight heparin (GAG 869), a low-molecular-weight heparin (Fragmin), and sodium pentosanpolysulfate have been investigated on their anticoagulant effects in vitro and ex vivo and in an animal thrombosis model in which rat mesenteric venules are damaged by defined laser energy. GAG 262 and pentosanpolysulfate had a markedly reduced anticoagulant effect compared to heparin, Fragmin, and the supersulfated low-molecular-weight heparin fragment. Similarily, the doses necessary to inhibit thrombus formation in the laser model were much higher for GAG 262 and for pentosanpolysulfate compared to heparin and the low-molecular-weight heparin Fragmin, but much lower for the supersulfated heparin fragment. The antithrombotic effect of the low-molecular-weight heparin Fragmin and the supersulfated heparin fragment after subcutaneous injection lasted much longer than the ex vivo detectable anticoagulant effect. Although some correlation between the antithrombotic and the anticoagulant effect in the laser model is evident, there seems to be no direct correlation between amount and duration of factor IIa or factor Xa inhibition and extent and duration of the inhibition of thrombus formation.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Heparin structure.

Heparins used in therapy are largely constituted by sequences of the trisulfated disaccharide L-iduronic acid-2-sulfate----D-glucosamine-N,6-disulfate. These regular sequences are interrupted by undersulfated (occasionally, oversulfated) sequences containing D-glucuronic acid and N-acetylated D-glucosamine. Different heparin sequences are binding domains for heparin cofactors and plasma proteins. The active site for antithrombin is a specific pentasaccharide sequence containing 3-O-sulfated D-glucosamine. Heparin cofactor-II binds, less specifically, mostly to the regular sequences. The conformational flexibility of iduronic acid residues contributes to the binding versatility and to the 'biological reactivity' of heparin.

Carbohydrate Conformation↗
PubMed1987

"Supersulfated" heparin fragments, a new type of low-molecular weight heparin. Physico-chemical and pharmacological properties.

A new type of low-molecular-weight heparin (ss-LMW-H) was prepared (by controlled depolymerization and concurrent sulfation of heparin with a mixture of sulfuric and chlorosulfonic acid), to test the influence of extra-sulfate groups on biological properties of heparin fragments. The fragments had an average molecular weight ranging from 5000 to 10,000, a sulfate-to-carboxyl molar ratio of 2.8-3.1, and electrophoretic mobilities and NMR spectra distinctly different from those of the parent heparins. Depolymerization with oversulfation reduced the anticoagulant activity of heparin (ex vivo, in rats) much more than depolymerization alone, to about 10% of the original APTT and 25-30% of the original a.Xa units. By contrast, the antithrombotic activity (venous stasis model, in rats) was still comparable to that of heparin, and bleeding times were not significantly increased. The lipasemic (lipoprotein-lipase-releasing) activity of ss-LMW-H fragments was more than twice that of heparin. Results are discussed in terms of contribution of charge-density effects to different activities and to different mechanisms for the same activity of heparin.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Retention of antilipemic activity by periodate-oxidized non-anticoagulant heparins.

Heparin preparations with different anticoagulant and antilipemic (fat-clearing) activities were oxidized with periodate under conditions of cleavage of all the C(2)-C(3) bonds of non-sulfated uronic acid residues, while preserving the original molecular weight of the polysaccharide. Periodate-oxidised heparins (oxyheparins, O-HEP) and the corresponding borohydride-reduced products (reduced oxyheparins, RO-HEP) were compared with the original heparins for their content in trisulfated disaccharide sequences (as determined by 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance) and in active sites for antithrombin-III (as determined indirectly by affinity chromatography), and for their anticoagulant and antilipemic (lipoprotein lipase-releasing) activities. The drop of anticoagulant activity induced by periodate oxidation was paralleled by a substantial decrease of affinity for antithrombin, and is thought to arise from glycol splitting at the level of the D-glucuronic acid residue that is part of the active site for antithrombin. The trisulfated disaccharide sequences and the associated antilipemic activities were substantially unaffected by periodate oxidation. The residual anticoagulant activity of periodate-oxidized heparins obtained from preparations - such as those from beef lung - rich in trisulfated disaccharide sequences is discussed in terms of the influence of charge density on heparin-protease interactions not mediated by antithrombin.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Antithrombotic and bleeding effects of a low molecular weight heparin fraction.

Low molecular weight (LMW) heparin prevents venous thrombosis by potentiating the inhibition of coagulation factor Xa. Heparin, however, has other biological properties whose role in the prevention of thrombosis is still unknown. The aim of our study was to compare the antithrombotic activity of a LMW heparin and its parent molecule in an attempt to understand better the mechanism and structural requirements for heparin's antithrombotic effect. We studied a preparation of an unfractionated pig mucosal heparin pure by any accepted criteria (electrophoresis in various systems, conductimetric titration and NMR spectra) and a LMW heparin fraction obtained from the former by fractional precipitation with ethanol. Both heparins completely prevented thrombus formation in an experimental model of stasis-induced venous thrombosis in rats. When administered intravenously to rats, the unfractionated heparin had an ex vivo anti-Xa/APTT ratio of 1.67, versus 6.60 of the LMW heparin fraction. Unexpectedly, both heparins induced a significant prolongation of tail bleeding time, performed by two different techniques, the "transection" (mostly exploring blood clotting) and the "template" (exploring the platelet/vessel wall interactions). This study suggests that, beside anticoagulation, other effects may play a role in both the antithrombotic and haemorrhagic effects of some heparins and LMW heparin fractions.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Mono- and bidimensional 500 MHz 1H-NMR spectra of a synthetic pentasaccharide corresponding to the binding sequence of heparin to antithrombin-III: evidence for conformational peculiarity of the sulfated iduronate residue.

1H-NMR spectra of the synthetic pentasaccharide (N-sulfate-6-0-sulfate-alpha-D-glucosamine) 1----4 (beta-D-glucuronic acid) 1----4 (N-sulfate-3,6-di-0-sulfate-alpha-D-glucosamine) 1----4 (2-0-sulfate-alpha-L-iduronic acid) 1----4 (N-sulfate-6-0-sulfate-alpha-D-glucosamine), corresponding to the active site of heparin for antithrombin (AT-III), have been resolved at 500 MHz and assigned by mono- and bidimensional techniques. Vicinal proton coupling constants of the D-glucosamine residues are similar to those in the regular sequences of heparin, indicating that the 4C1 conformation of the ring, and preference for the g,g conformation of the sulfated hydroxymethyl groups of these residues are neither affected by the unique 3-0-sulfo group nor by sequence effects. By contrast, an unusually large coupling between H-2 and H-3 of the sulfated L-iduronic acid residue suggests a greater departure from the 1C4 conformation of this residue. when present in the binding sequence to AT-III than in the regular sequences. Such a departure, leading to different orientation and spacing of essential sulfate groups, may have implications for high-affinity binding to AT-III.

Antithrombin III↗