Conformation study on heparin by intermediate‐angle X‐ray scattering

Abstract

AbstractThe conformation of heparin in water was investigated by intermediate‐angle x‐ray scattering (IAXS). The theoretical scattering function for the coil conformation was calculated by the Monte Carlo method using the approximation of separable conformation energies and the conformation energies computed for two disaccharide pairs in heparin. From x‐ray scattering in a relatively small‐angle region, the conformation of heparin is not the ordered 21 helix conformation but the coil conformation obtained by the Monte Carlo calculation. It is expected, from x‐ray scattering in a relatively wide‐angel region, that the sulfate groups of heparin maintain about 7 Å between them.