A new study reveals that ovine heparin is unusually rich in 3-O-sulfated glucosamine residues — concentrated at the non-reducing end of the chains in highly sulfated sequences unrelated to anticoagulant activity.
This distinctive trait may serve as a structural marker of ovine heparin — and points to a valuable new opportunity: ovine-derived heparin could become a model for studying the wide range of biological functions linked to 3-O-sulfation.
A step forward in decoding the structural diversity of glycosaminoglycans
Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.3390/biom16071025