Heparin as an Immunosuppressant: Therapeutic Potential beyond Anticoagulation

Abstract

Copyright: © 2012 Ali S, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are components of proteoglycan (PG) molecules found on the cell surface and within the extracellular matrix. PG consists of a range of core proteins that are covalently linked to one or more GAG chains. These chains are chemically defined as heparan sulfate (HS), chondroitin sulfate, dermatan sulfate, or keratan sulfate and range in molecular weight up to 100 kDa. HS is generally the most abundant GAG on endothelial cell surfaces. Both the core protein and the GAG component of a PG can contribute to the molecule’s function [1].