Fig 1.

Schematic of syndecan and glypican at the plasma membrane and the effect of treatments. (A) Syndecans are extracellular transmembrane proteins which have heparan (HS) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) side chains attached to the extracellular core protein (ectodomain). These glycosaminoglycan chains consist of repetitive differentially sulfated polysaccharides. Glypicans have the same type of side chains but are attached to the plasma membrane by a GPI anchor. Treatment with PI-PLC cuts the GPI anchor and releases the glypicans from the cell surface. (B) Schematic showing differentially desulfated heparan sulfate/heparins (2-DSH, 2-O-desulfated; 6-DSH, 6-O-desulfated; N-DSH, N-desulfated). Different desulfation positions have been marked with circles. An example where NaClO₃ removes the sulfation on heparan sulfate is indicated by an arrow.