Characterization of heparan sulfate isolated from drug glomerular basement membranes

Glycosaminoglycans were isolated from whole dog kidney and from purified glomerular basement membrane. Heparan sulfate was found to be the major component in the whole organ and the only glycosaminoglycan detected in significant amounts in the glomerular basement membranes. The heparan sulfate from basement membranes was characterized by isolation and analyses and found to be more homogeneous in charge content and molecular weight than the polymer from the whole kidney and to resemble one of the subfractions. It has a lower total sulfate and N-sulfate content than the same polysaccharide isolated from rat basement membranes. The findings suggest that there are several subgroups of heparan sulfate polyanions in the kidney and that the heparan sulfate associated with glomerular basement membranes in line with its specific function may be different from other kidney heparan sulfates.