Glycosaminoglycans from earthworms (Eisenia andrei)
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Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Detection of Glycosaminoglycans by Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis and Silver Staining
Published on: February 25, 2021
A-Rang Im1, Youmie Park, Joon-Soo Sim
1Natural Products Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, 599 Gwanangno, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
The whole tissue of the earthworm (Eisenia andrei) was lyophilized and extracted to purify glycosaminoglycans. Fractions, eluting from an anion-exchange column at 1.0 M and 2.0 M NaCl, showed the presence of acidic polysaccharides on agarose gel electrophoresis. Monosaccharide compositional analysis showed that galactose and glucose were most abundant monosaccharides in both fractions. Depolymerization of the polysaccharide mixture with glycosaminoglycan-degrading enzymes confirmed the presence of chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate and heparan sulfate in the 2.0 M NaCl fraction. The content of GAGs (uronic acid containing polysaccharide) in the 2.0 M NaCl fraction determined by carbazole assay was 2%. Disaccharide compositional analysis using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) analysis after chondroitinase digestion (ABC and ACII), showed that the chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate contained a 4-O-sulfo (76%), 2,4-di-O-sulfo (15%), 6-O-sulfo (6%), and unsulfated (4%) uronic acid linked N-acetylgalactosamine residues. LC-ESI-MS analysis of heparin lyase I/II/III digests demonstrated the presence of N-sulfo (69%), N-sulfo-6-O-sulfo (25%) and 2-O-sulfo-N-sulfo-6-O-sulfo (5%) uronic acid linked N-acetylglucosamine residues.
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