Synthesis of oligosaccharides of the linkage region of proteoglycans using regioselective glycosylation

Proteoglycans (PGs) are complex macromolecules that are composed of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains covalently attached to a core protein through a tetrasaccharide linker. Biosynthesis of PGs is complex and involves a large number of glycosyltranferases. We report herein for the first time the synthesis of a collection of various sulfoforms of the disaccharide GlcA-1,3-β-D-Gal and trisaccharides GlcNAc-1,4-α-D-GlcA-1,3-β-D-Gal and GalNAc-1,4-β-D-GlcA-1,3-β-D-Gal using a regioselective glycosylation. Preliminary results on the impact of sulfation of these disaccharides upon recombinant chondroitin sulfate N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase-1 (CSGalNAcT-1) involved in chondroitin sulfate chain initiation is also reported.