Molecular structure of dermatan sulphate tetrasaccharide

The knowledge of carbohydrate molecular structure is essential for understanding various processes in glycobiology. Dermatan sulphate (DS) belongs to the group of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) polysaccharides with biological importance [1]. DS is present in various tissues in higher organisms, e.g. in skin, blood vessels or lungs and plays important roles in various processes, namely intercellular and cell-matrix interactions, cell migrations and morphogenesis [2]. The investigation of DS solution properties and formation of their intermolecular complexes with proteins rely mainly on methods of theoretical chemistry as well as high-resolution NMR spectroscopy. In the present contribution, the results of calculations of molecular geometry of dermatan sulphate by density functional theory (DFT) are discussed and compared with experimental spectroscopic data.