G. Bäckström

An octasaccharide with high affinity for antithrombin was isolated after partial deaminative cleavage of heparin with nitrous acid. After conversion of the 2,5-anhydro-D-mannose end group to anhydro[1-3H]mannitol, labeled pentasaccharide was released from the octasaccharide by periodate-alkali treatment. Incubation of the pentasaccharide with a recently discovered 3,O-sulfatase from human urine resulted in desulfation, suggesting the occurrence of a 3-sulfate group on the terminal glucosamine residue. The same glucosamine residue was recovered as a 2,5-anhydro[1-3H]mannitol derivative by a procedure involving deamination of the octasaccharide with nitrous acid, reduction of the products with sodium boro[3H]hydride, isolation of 3H-labeled tetrasaccharide by gel chromatography, and release of the labeled end-group by periodate-alkali treatment. Paper electrophoresis indicated disulfated anhydro[3H]mannitol, presumably sulfated at C3 and C6, as a major component, along with smaller amounts of monosulfated (presumably 3-sulfated) anhydro[3H]mannitol. Similar treatment of an analogous tetrasaccharide derived from heparin with low affinity for antithrombin failed to produce any disulfated anhydromannitol. These results suggest that 3-sulfated glucosamine is a unique component of high-affinity heparin, located at a specific position in the antithrombin-binding sequence of the molecule.

Heparin preparations from pig intestinal mucosa and from bovine lung were separated by chromatography on antithrombin-Sepharose into a high-affinity fraction (with high anticoagulant activity) and a low-affinity fraction (with low anticoagulant). Antithrombin-binding heparin fragments (12-16 monosaccharide units) were prepared, either by digesting a high-affinity heparin-antithrombin complex with bacterial heparinase or by partial deaminative cleavage of the unfractionated polysaccharide with nitrous acid followed by affinity chromatography on immobilized antithrombin. Compositional analysis based on separation and identification of deamination products reduced with sodium boro[3H]hydride showed that nonsulfated L-iduronic acid occurred in larger amounts in high-affinity heparin than in low-affinity heparin; furthermore, this component was concentrated in the antithrombin-binding regions of the high-affinity heparin molecules, amounting to approximately one residue per binding site. It is suggested that nonsulfated L-iduronic acid is essential for the anticoagulant activity of heparin. The location of the non-sulfated uronic acid in the antithrombin-binding site was determined by periodate oxidation of antithrombin-binding fragments containing a terminal 2,5-anhydro-D-[1-3H]mannitol unit. Tentative structures for antithrombin-binding sequences in heparin are proposed, including some structural variants believed to be compatible with, but not required for, activity.

Oligosaccharides with different affinities for antithrombin were isolated following partial deaminative cleavage of pig mucosal heparin with nitrous acid. The smallest high-affinity component obtained was previously identified as an octasaccharide with the predominant structure: (Formula: see text). The interaction of this octasaccharide, and of deca- and dodecasaccharides containing the same octasaccharide sequence, with antithrombin was studied by spectroscopic techniques. The near-ultraviolet difference spectra, circular dichroism spectra, and fluorescence enhancements induced by adding these oligosaccharides to antithrombin differed only slightly from the corresponding parameters measured in the presence of undegraded high-affinity heparin. Moreover, the binding constants obtained for the oligosaccharides and for high-affinity heparin were similar (1.0-2.9 X 10(7) M-1 at I = 0.3). In contrast, two hexasaccharides corresponding to units 1-6 and 3-8, respectively, of the above sequence showed about a 1000-fold lower affinity for antithrombin, and also induced considerably different spectral perturbations in antithrombin. Since the 1-6 hexasaccharide contains a reducing-terminal anhydromannose residue instead of the N-sulfated glucosamine unit 6 of the intact sequence, these results strongly support our previous conclusion that the N-sulfate group at position 6 is essential to the interaction with antithrombin. The low affinity of the hexasaccharide 3-8 provides further evidence that a pentasaccharide sequence 2-6 constitutes the actual antithrombin-binding region in the heparin molecule. Structural analysis of the various oligosaccharides revealed natural variants with an N-sulfate group substituted for the N-acetyl group at position 2. The preponderance of N-acetyl over N-sulfate groups at this position may be rationalized in terms of the mechanism of heparin biosynthesis, assuming that the D-gluco configuration of unit 3 is an essential feature of the antithrombin-binding region.

Thermal conductivity of solids and liquids under pressure is covered in this review. Experimental techniques are critically considered and compared, and an introduction to theory is provided. Results are presented and discussed for ionic crystals, normal molecular crystals, plastic crystal phases, clathrate hydrates, polymers and glass-formers, liquids, covalent and semiconducting crystals, rocks and metals. Special attention is given to isochoric conditions, change of crystal structure and molecular orientational disorder. Available reliable measurements at pressures up to a few GPa indicate the need for theoretical development, especially in connection with molecular crystals and ferromagnetic metals.