Chondroitin sulfate (CS) is a relevant family of polysaccharides that participates in a large variety of biological events that are related to neural processes by regulating various growth factors through the pattern and degree of sulfation of the polysaccharide. However, their own complexity makes their optimization for biomedical applications a difficult undertaking. Thus, a different perspective has to be taken. Herein, we show that the particular sulfate distribution within the disaccharide repeating-unit plays a key role in the binding of growth factors (GFs). In particular, this disposition modulates the surface charge of the helical structure that, interestingly, has a significant influence on the binding capacity of CSs with several GFs. This fact should be carefully considered in the design of new ligands with improved activity as GFs ligands.

硫酸软骨素（CS）是多糖的一个相关家族，它通过调节多糖的分布模式和程度来调节各种生长因子，从而参与与神经过程有关的多种生物学事件。然而，它们自身的复杂性使得针对生物医学应用的优化变得困难。因此，必须采取不同的观点。本文中，我们显示了二糖重复单元中特定的硫酸盐分布在生长因子（GFs）的结合中起着关键作用。特别地，这种布置调节螺旋结构的表面电荷，有趣的是，该螺旋结构对CS与几种GF的结合能力具有显着影响。