Distribution of sulfated glycosaminoglycans in the animal kingdom: widespread occurrence of heparin-like compounds in invertebrates

Sulfated glycosaminoglycans were isolated from 23 species of 13 phyla of in vertebrates and characterized by their electrophoretic migration in three d ifferent buffer systems coupled with enzymatic degradation using bacterial heparinase, heparitinases and chondroitinase AC. Heparan sulfate is a ubiqu itous compound present in all species analyzed whereas chondroitin sulfate was present in 20 species and heparin-like compounds in 12 species of the i nvertebrates. The heparin-like compounds were purified from the echinoderm Mellita quinquisperforata (sand dollar) and the crustacean Ucides cordatus (crab) with anticoagulant activities of 60 and 52 IU/mg, respectively. Degr adation of these heparins with heparinase produced significant amounts of t he trisulfated disaccharide typical of mammalian heparins. This was confirm ed by C-13-NMR spectroscopy of the crab heparin. An updated phylogenetic tr ee of the distribution of sulfated glycosaminoglycans in the animal kingdom is also presented. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.