Heparan sulfate (HS) is a complex polysaccharide abundantly found in extracellular matrices and cell surfaces. HS participates in major cellular processes, through its ability to bind and modulate a wide array of signaling proteins. HS/ligand interactions involve saccharide domains of specific sulfation pattern. Assembly of such domains is orchestrated by a complex biosynthesis machinery and their structure is further regulated at the cell surface by post-synthetic modifying enzymes. Amongst them, extracellular sulfatases of the Sulf family catalyze the selective removal of 6-O-sulfate groups, which participate in the binding of many proteins. As such, increasing interest arose on the regulation of HS biological properties by the Sulfs. However, studies of the Sulfs have so far been essentially restricted to the fields of development and tumor progression. The aim of this review is to survey recent data of the literature on the still poorly documented role of the Sulfs during inflammation, and to widen the perspectives for the study of this intriguing regulatory mechanism toward new physiopathological processes.

中文翻译：

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HS和炎症：潜在的硫磺游乐场？

硫酸乙酰肝素（HS）是一种复杂的多糖，广泛存在于细胞外基质和细胞表面。HS通过结合和调节多种信号蛋白的能力而参与了主要的细胞过程。HS /配体相互作用涉及特定硫酸化模式的糖结构域。这些结构域的组装是通过复杂的生物合成机制进行的，并且其结构通过合成后修饰酶在细胞表面进一步调控。其中，Sulf家族的胞外硫酸酯酶催化选择性清除6-O-硫酸盐基团，这些基团参与许多蛋白质的结合。因此，人们对硫磺对HS生物学特性的调节越来越感兴趣。然而，迄今为止，对Sulfs的研究基本上仅限于发育和肿瘤进展领域。这篇综述的目的是调查有关硫磺在炎症过程中的作用仍然文献不足的文献的最新数据，并拓宽研究这种有趣的调节机制对新的生理病理过程的视野。