Protein–glycosaminoglycan interaction networks: Focus on heparan sulfate

Abstract

Sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are complex polysaccharides, which are covalently bound to protein cores to form proteoglycans. They are mostly located at the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix (ECM) where they regulate numerous biological processes. The aim of our work is (i) to identify and characterize protein–GAG interactions occurring at the cell surface and in the ECM, (ii) to study the assembly of multimolecular complexes formed at the cell surface via protein–heparan sulfate interactions, (iii) to determine the roles of these complexes in the ECM maturation and assembly, which are initiated in the pericellular matrix, and in pathological situations such as angiogenesis and host–pathogen interactions, (iv) to build, contextualize and analyze the corresponding protein–heparan sulfate interaction networks to identify molecular connections between the physio-pathological processes mentioned above and to select protein–GAG complexes specifically formed in a pathological situation and which might be therapeutic targets.