Minimal sequence in heparin/heparan sulfate required for binding of basic fibroblast growth factor.

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Experiments based on interaction in free solution between basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) and saccharides related to heparin/heparan sulfate showed that the growth factor binds to heparin and to selectively glucosaminyl 6-O-desulfated heparin but poorly to iduronosyl 2-O-desulfated heparin. 2-O-sulfate groups thus are essential to the interaction, whereas 6-O-sulfates are not required nor do they interfere with FGF-2 binding. Comparison of various bound/nonbound oligosaccharides implicated a minimal pentasaccharide sequence for FGF-2 binding, with the structure: -hexuronic acid-glucosamine N-sulfate-hexuronic acid-glucosamine N-sulfate-iduronic acid 2-O-sulfate- (reducing terminus to the right). Such (overlapping) sequences are abundant in heparin, albeit heavily obscured by irrelevant O-sulfate groups, and occur also in heparan sulfate, with or without additional O-sulfates.