Disaccharide Analysis of Glycosaminoglycans From Twenty‐Four Organs of Young and Aged Mice

ABSTRACT Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are abundant negatively charged polysaccharides ubiquitously expressed in mammalian organs, having essential biological functions in development and homeostasis. It has been scarcely reported that GAG structures are changed in aged and diseased human organs; however, an overall landscape of GAGs in individual organs of an animal is missing. Here, we performed an in‐depth analysis of disaccharide composition of chondroitin/dermatan sulfate (CS/DS) and heparan sulfate (HS) from 24 organs of young and aged mice. Quantification of the disaccharide species showed that CS/DS dominates almost all organs, but HS dominates in five organs. As expected, the sulfation pattern of CS/DS and HS varied in different organs, which likely correlates with their biological functions in a given organ. Nevertheless, the age‐dependent alteration is more prominent in the disaccharides of CS/DS, which may suggest CS/DS has a more important role in aging. This first report of a comprehensive analysis of GAGs amount and structure should be highly relevant in understanding how GAGs affect diseases and aging.