Changes in charge density of heparan sulfate isolated from cancerous human liver tissue

Heparan sulfate fractions were isolated from three normal human livers and three cancerous human liver tissues, and their polyanionic properties were examined using electrophoresis, sequential partition fractionation, and chemical analyses. More than 60% of total glycosaminoglycans from normal human liver and about 30% from cancerous liver tissue were found to be heparan sulfate from their resistance to exhaustive digestion with chondroitinase ABC and their susceptibility to nitrous acid treatment. The heparan sulfate isolated from cancerous liver tissue afforded a lower sulfate/uronic acid molar ratio (0.58 to 0.65) than did normal human liver heparan sulfate (0.76 to 0.80). Also, the former showed lower electrophoretic mobility in 0.1 M HCl and a different partition fractionation profile in comparison with the latter. These differences in charge density of the macromolecule were not detected on the chondroitin sulfate and/or dermatan sulfate fractions isolated from normal human liver and cancerous liver tissue.