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Updated: Sep 27, 2025

Improved In-gel Reductive β-Elimination for Comprehensive O-linked and Sulfo-glycomics by Mass Spectrometry
Published on: November 20, 2014
Emerging chemical and biochemical tools for studying 3-O-sulfated heparan sulfate
1Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Abstract:
Heparan sulfate is a widely expressed polysaccharide in the extracellular matrix and on the cell surface. 3-O-sulfated heparan sulfate represents only a small percentage of heparan sulfate from biological sources. However, this subpopulation is closely associated with biological functions of heparan sulfate. The 3-O-sulfated heparan sulfate is biosynthesized by heparan sulfate 3-O-sulfotransferase, which exists in seven different isoforms. This review article summarizes the recent progress in the substrate specificity studies of different 3-O-sulfotransferase isoforms involving the use of homogeneous oligosaccharide substrates and crystal structural analysis. The article also reviews a newly developed liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based method to analyze the level of 3-O-sulfated heparan sulfate with high sensitivity and quantitative capability. This newly emerged technology will provide new tools to study the structure and function relationship of heparan sulfate.
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