Dermatan Sulfate-Free Mice Display Embryological Defects and Are Neonatal Lethal Despite Normal Lymphoid and Non-Lymphoid Organogenesis.
The epimerization of glucuronic acid into iduronic acid adds structural variability to chondroitin/dermatan sulfate polysaccharides. Iduronic acid-containing domains play essential roles in processes such as coagulation, chemokine and morphogen modulation, collagen maturation, and neurite sprouting. Therefore, we generated and characterized, for the first time, mice deficient in dermatan sulfate e