PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

L Thunberg

Publications and source records attributed to L Thunberg.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Isolation and characterization of heparin from human mastocytoma tissue.

Polysaccharide was isolated from human spleen mastocytoma by proteolytic digestion, precipitation with cetylpyridinium chloride, digestion with chondroitinase ABC, and ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. The final product (0.7 mg per g of starting material, MW 8000) behaved like standard heparin on ion-exchange chromatography and on electrophoresis, and contained D-glucuronic acid, L-iduronic acid, D-glucosamine and sulfate in the proportions expected for heparin. Affinity chromatography on antithrombin-Sepharose separated a distinct high-affinity fraction (4-5% of the total material). Structural analysis of this fraction showed that about 10% of the D-glucosamine residues were N-acetylated, the remainder N-sulfated. The anticoagulant activity of the isolated heparin was 71 B.P. units per mg (whole-blood system), or 30 units per mg (anti-thrombin and chromogenic substrate). 205 and 10-15 units per mg (chromogenic assay) were found for high and low affinity fractions, respectively. These results demonstrate conclusively the occurrence of heparin in a human tissue.

Chromatography, Affinity↗

Evidence for a 3-O-sulfated D-glucosamine residue in the antithrombin-binding sequence of heparin.

An octasaccharide with high affinity for antithrombin was isolated after partial deaminative cleavage of heparin with nitrous acid. After conversion of the 2,5-anhydro-D-mannose end group to anhydro[1-3H]mannitol, labeled pentasaccharide was released from the octasaccharide by periodate-alkali treatment. Incubation of the pentasaccharide with a recently discovered 3,O-sulfatase from human urine resulted in desulfation, suggesting the occurrence of a 3-sulfate group on the terminal glucosamine residue. The same glucosamine residue was recovered as a 2,5-anhydro[1-3H]mannitol derivative by a procedure involving deamination of the octasaccharide with nitrous acid, reduction of the products with sodium boro[3H]hydride, isolation of 3H-labeled tetrasaccharide by gel chromatography, and release of the labeled end-group by periodate-alkali treatment. Paper electrophoresis indicated disulfated anhydro[3H]mannitol, presumably sulfated at C3 and C6, as a major component, along with smaller amounts of monosulfated (presumably 3-sulfated) anhydro[3H]mannitol. Similar treatment of an analogous tetrasaccharide derived from heparin with low affinity for antithrombin failed to produce any disulfated anhydromannitol. These results suggest that 3-sulfated glucosamine is a unique component of high-affinity heparin, located at a specific position in the antithrombin-binding sequence of the molecule.

Animals↗

On the molecular-weight-dependence of the anticoagulant activity of heparin.

The inactivation of thrombin and factor Xa by antithrombin was determined in the presence of heparin fractions of different molecular weights and with high affinity for antithrombin. The ability to potentiate the inactivation of either coagulation factor increased with increasing length of the polysaccharide chain.

Antithrombin III↗

Structure of the antithrombin-binding site in heparin.

Heparin preparations from pig intestinal mucosa and from bovine lung were separated by chromatography on antithrombin-Sepharose into a high-affinity fraction (with high anticoagulant activity) and a low-affinity fraction (with low anticoagulant). Antithrombin-binding heparin fragments (12-16 monosaccharide units) were prepared, either by digesting a high-affinity heparin-antithrombin complex with bacterial heparinase or by partial deaminative cleavage of the unfractionated polysaccharide with nitrous acid followed by affinity chromatography on immobilized antithrombin. Compositional analysis based on separation and identification of deamination products reduced with sodium boro[3H]hydride showed that nonsulfated L-iduronic acid occurred in larger amounts in high-affinity heparin than in low-affinity heparin; furthermore, this component was concentrated in the antithrombin-binding regions of the high-affinity heparin molecules, amounting to approximately one residue per binding site. It is suggested that nonsulfated L-iduronic acid is essential for the anticoagulant activity of heparin. The location of the non-sulfated uronic acid in the antithrombin-binding site was determined by periodate oxidation of antithrombin-binding fragments containing a terminal 2,5-anhydro-D-[1-3H]mannitol unit. Tentative structures for antithrombin-binding sequences in heparin are proposed, including some structural variants believed to be compatible with, but not required for, activity.

Animals↗

The molecular-weight-dependence of the anti-coagulant activity of heparin.

It is proposed that the anti-coagulant activity of heparin is related to the probability of finding, in a random distribution of different disaccharides, a dodecasaccharide with the sequence required for binding to antithrombin. It is shown that this probability is a function of the degree of polymerization of heparin. The hypothesis has been been tested with a series of narrow-molecular-weight-range fractions ranging from 5,600 to 36,000. The fractions having mol.wts. below 18,000 (comprising 85% of the original preparation) followed the predicted probability relationship as expressed by the proportion of molecules capable of binding to antithrombin. The probability that any randomly chosen dodecasaccharide sequence in heparin should bind to antithrombin was calculated to 0.022. The fraction with mol.wt. 36,000 contained proteoglycan link-region fragments, which may explain the deviation of the high-molecular-weight fractions from the hypothetical relationship. The relationship between anti-coagulant activity and molecular weight cannot be explained solely on the basis of availability of binding sites for antithrombin. The activity of high-affinity heparin (i.e. molecules containing high-affinity binding sites for antithrombin), determined either by a whole-blood clotting procedure or by thrombin inactivation in the presence of antithrombin, thus remained dependent on molecular weight. Possible explanations of this finding are discussed. One explanation could be a requirement for binding of thrombin to the heparin chain adjacent to antithrombin.

Antithrombins↗