Mass spectrometric evidence for the enzymatic mechanism of the depolymerization of heparin-like glycosaminoglycans by heparinase II

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Oct 13;95(21):12232-7. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.21.12232.

Abstract

Heparin-like glycosaminoglycans, acidic complex polysaccharides present on cell surfaces and in the extracellular matrix, regulate important physiological processes such as anticoagulation and angiogenesis. Heparin-like glycosaminoglycan degrading enzymes or heparinases are powerful tools that have enabled the elucidation of important biological properties of heparin-like glycosaminoglycans in vitro and in vivo. With an overall goal of developing an approach to sequence heparin-like glycosaminoglycans using the heparinases, we recently have elaborated a mass spectrometry methodology to elucidate the mechanism of depolymerization of heparin-like glycosaminoglycans by heparinase I. In this study, we investigate the mechanism of depolymerization of heparin-like glycosaminoglycans by heparinase II, which possesses the broadest known substrate specificity of the heparinases. We show here that heparinase II cleaves heparin-like glycosaminoglycans endolytically in a nonrandom manner. In addition, we show that heparinase II has two distinct active sites and provide evidence that one of the active sites is heparinase I-like, cleaving at hexosamine-sulfated iduronate linkages, whereas the other is presumably heparinase III-like, cleaving at hexosamine-glucuronate linkages. Elucidation of the mechanism of depolymerization of heparin-like glycosaminoglycans by the heparinases and mutant heparinases could pave the way to the development of much needed methods to sequence heparin-like glycosaminoglycans.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Binding Sites
  • Biopolymers
  • Glycosaminoglycans / chemistry
  • Glycosaminoglycans / metabolism*
  • Heparin / chemistry*
  • Polysaccharide-Lyases / metabolism*
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization

Substances

  • Biopolymers
  • Glycosaminoglycans
  • Heparin
  • Polysaccharide-Lyases
  • heparinase II