The goal of this project is to seek a quantitative molecular level description of the mechanical aspects of the biofunctionality of glycosaminoglycans and their higher structures. A comprehensive series of laser light scattering and spectropolarimetric experiments will be carried out under varying conditions of solute concentration, pH, ionic strength and temperature. The data will provide a detailed picture of glycosaminoglycan behavior in terms of conformational, hydrodynamic, secondary structural and intermolecular phenomena. This description will in turn form the basis for a macromolecular thermodynamic formulation of glycosaminoglycan polyelectrolyte behavior. Acidic polysaccharides known as glycosaminoglycans are highly charged polyelectrolytes found in many different forms in virtually all connective tissue. Among their major physiological roles in connective tissue and extracellular matrix are the production of swelling pressure and compressive stiffness, the production of streaming potentials and the micro-porous control of solute transport.
