Synthesis of 3- O-Sulfated Heparan Sulfate Oligosaccharides Using 3- O-Sulfotransferase Isoform 4

ACS Chem Biol. 2021 Oct 15;16(10):2026-2035. doi: 10.1021/acschembio.1c00474. Epub 2021 Aug 5.

Abstract

Heparan sulfate (HS) 3-O-sulfotransferase isoform 4 (3-OST-4) is a specialized carbohydrate sulfotransferase participating in the biosynthesis of heparan sulfate. Here, we report the expression and purification of the recombinant 3-OST-4 enzyme and use it for the synthesis of a library of 3-O-sulfated hexasaccharides and 3-O-sulfated octasaccharides. The unique structural feature of the library is that each oligosaccharide contains a disaccharide domain with a 2-O-sulfated glucuronic acid (GlcA2S) and 3-O-sulfated glucosamine (GlcNS3S). By rearranging the order of the enzymatic modification steps, we demonstrate the synthesis of oligosaccharides with different saccharide sequences. The structural characterization was completed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and NMR. These 3-O-sulfated oligosaccharides show weak to very weak anti-Factor Xa activity, a measurement of anticoagulant activity. We discovered that HSoligo 7 (HS oligosaccharide 7), a 3-O-sulfated octasaccharide, binds to high mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) and tau protein, both believed to be involved in the process of inflammation. Access to the recombinant 3-OST-4 expands the capability of the chemoenzymatic method to synthesize novel 3-O-sulfated oligosaccharides. The oligosaccharides will become valuable reagents to probe the biological functions of 3-O-sulfated HS and to develop HS-based therapeutic agents.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Carbohydrate Sequence
  • Factor Xa / metabolism
  • Factor Xa Inhibitors / chemical synthesis
  • Factor Xa Inhibitors / metabolism
  • HMGB1 Protein / metabolism
  • Isoenzymes / chemistry
  • Mice
  • Oligosaccharides / chemical synthesis*
  • Oligosaccharides / metabolism
  • Recombinant Proteins / chemistry
  • Sf9 Cells
  • Sulfotransferases / chemistry*
  • tau Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • Factor Xa Inhibitors
  • HMGB1 Protein
  • HMGB1 protein, mouse
  • Isoenzymes
  • Oligosaccharides
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • tau Proteins
  • Sulfotransferases
  • heparitin sulfotransferase
  • Factor Xa