Abstract
Chondro-4-sulfatase and chondro-6-sulfatase from Proteus vulgaris and ?4hexuronate-2-sulfatase from Flavobacteriurn heparinum are potentially useful tools for structural studies of chondroitin sulfate and dermatan sulfate. Their substrate specificities were investigated with various structurally defined, sulfated hexasaccharides isolated from chondroitin sulfate as described in the accompanying report [Sugahara, K., Nadanaka, S., Takeda, K. & Kojima, T. (1996) Eur. J. Biochem. 239, 871-880]. The results indicated that ?4hexuronate-2-sulfatase released an ester sulfate from the C2 position of the ?4hexuronate residue located at the non-reducing terminus, while chondro-6-sulfatase removed an ester sulfate from the C6 position of the GalNAc residue at the reducing end of the hexasaccharides. Chondro-4-sulfatase acted preferentially on an ester sulfate on the C4 position of the GalNAc residue at the reducing end under mild incubation conditions, but also released a sulfate group under harsh conditions from the C4 position of the GalNAc residue at the internal positions of the hexasaccharide chains, unless the GalNAc residue had another ester sulfate on its C6 position. The results demonstrated the usefulness of the sulfatases as tools for the structural characterization of chondroitin sulfate oligosaccharides.

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