Glycosaminoglycans and Their Role in Capillary Walls

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are polysaccharide chains that extend into the vascular lumen and are embedded throughout the capillary wall. They have a multitude of biophysical and biochemical roles including control of vascular permeability, shear stress detection and growth factor uptake. The spatial distribution of GAGs is key to their function and, when coupled to their post-transcriptional synthesis, becomes technically challenging to analyse in model systems. This chapter brings together the evidence for their role in capillary permeability using the glomerular filtration barrier as an example. We also discuss methods, and potential methods, of in situ capillary scale imaging and analysis.