title: Strategies for analysis and structure characterization of glycans/proteoglycans by capillary electrophoresis. Their diagnostic and biopharmaceutical importance.
abstract: Proteoglycans are key biological macromolecules that, via their glycan constituents, participate and regulate several cellular events and physiopathological processes. Refined structures of their highly anionic glycan chains, involving sulphation pattern and uronic acid distribution through the polymeric chain, determine the interactions of proteoglycans with matrix effector molecules and are responsible for numerous effects. Analysis and structural characterization of glycans are, therefore, essential in understanding the biological functions of proteoglycans. Capillary electrophoresis with its high resolving power and sensitivity may successfully be used for the fine chemical characterization of components present in low amounts and to overcome limitations due to low amount/volume of biologic samples available. This technique is also friendly to the user and to the environment, since a very small amount of solvents (a few microL) is required. In this review the strategies used to analyse and characterize the structure of glycan chains of proteoglycans are summarized. They involve capillary electrophoretic analysis of depolymerized acidic glycan chains using specific enzymes and analysis of intact chains. The importance of this type of analysis in biologic samples and tissues and its possible diagnostic and biopharmaceutical use are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Section of Organic Chemistry-Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, 261 10 Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: N K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Karamanos
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hjerpe
mesh_terms: D002236:Carbohydrate Conformation; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary / Q000379:methods*; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011509:Proteoglycans / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D011134:Polysaccharides; D011509:Proteoglycans; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases