heparan sulfates
Heparan sulfate proteoglycan is a major component of basement membranes, where the molecule may be involved in the stabilization of other molecules as well as being involved with glomerular permeability to macromolecules and cell adhesion.
The heparan sulfates are a family of cell-surface and matrix polysaccharides with an incredible degree of structural diversity that are distributed widely in virtually all metazoan organisms.
The dynamic expression of heparan sulfates with differing sugar sequences suggests a repertoire of sequences produced by a particular cell or tissue called ’heparanome’.
Mucin-like glycoproteins, such as heparan sulfate, serve as ligands for the leukocyte adhesion molecule called CD44. These glycoproteins are found in the extracellular matrix and on cell surfaces.
See also
heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs)
References
Gorsi B, Stringer SE. Tinkering with heparan sulfate sulfation to steer development. Trends Cell Biol. 2007 Feb 20; PMID: #17320398#
Hacker U, Nybakken K, Perrimon N. Heparan sulphate proteoglycans: the sweet side of development. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2005 Jul;6(7):530-41. PMID: #16072037#
Turnbull J, Powell A, Guimond S. Heparan sulfate: decoding a dynamic multifunctional cell regulator. Trends Cell Biol. 2001 Feb;11(2):75-82. PMID: #11166215#