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Heparan Sulphate: A Heparin in Miniature

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Heparin - A Century of Progress

Part of the book series: Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology ((HEP,volume 207))

Abstract

Heparan sulphate (HS), discovered in 1948 in heparin by-products, only emerged slowly from the shadow of heparin. Its inauspicious beginning was followed by the gradual realisation that HS was a separate entity with distinctive features. Both HS and heparin follow a common biosynthetic route but while heparin reaches full maturity, HS holds on to some of its youthful traits. The novel design and complex patterning of sulphation in HS enable it fulfil key roles in many, diverse biological processes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Iduron Ltd., University of Manchester, Manchester, M20 4BX, UK

    J. T. Gallagher

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  1. J. T. Gallagher
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Correspondence to J. T. Gallagher .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy, University of London, Brunswick Square 29-39, London, WC1N 1AX, United Kingdom

    Rebecca Lever

  2. Standards and Control, National Institute for Biological, Blanche Lane, Potters Bar, Herts., EN6 3QG, United Kingdom

    Barbara Mulloy

  3. King's College London, Sackler Inst. Pulmonary Pharmacology, Waterloo Campus, London, SE1 9NH, United Kingdom

    Clive P. Page

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Gallagher, J.T. (2012). Heparan Sulphate: A Heparin in Miniature. In: Lever, R., Mulloy, B., Page, C. (eds) Heparin - A Century of Progress. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, vol 207. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23056-1_15

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