Abstract
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 epimerase 1 and 2, two enzymes uniquely involved in dermatan sulfate biosynthesis. The resulting mice, termed DKO mice, were completely devoid of iduronic acid, and the resulting chondroitin sulfate chains were structurally different from the wild type chains, from which a different protein binding specificity can be expected. As a consequence, a vast majority of the DKO mice died perinatally, with greatly variable phenotypes at birth or late embryological stages such as umbilical hernia, exencephaly and a kinked tail. However, a minority of embryos were histologically unaffected, with apparently normal lung and bone/cartilage features. Interestingly, the binding of the chemokine CXCL13, an important modulator of lymphoid organogenesis, to mouse DKO embryonic fibroblasts was impaired. Nevertheless, the development of the secondary lymphoid organs, including the lymph nodes and spleen, was normal. Altogether, our results indicate an important role of dermatan sulfate in embryological development and perinatal survival.