Hyaluronic Acid

Hydrodynamic behavior and interactionsConformationThe influence of the HA chain length on self associationwas studied by Turner et al. (Figure). From capillaryviscosimetry, light scattering, and circular dichroism(CD) spectroscopy they indicated concentrationdependentintermolecular associations of HA chains.Their measurements showed that HA fragmentscontaining less than approximately seven disaccharidesdo not undergo self-association. HA fragments ofapproximately 7-20 disaccharides were proposed toexist in a monomer-dimer equilibrium, while HAfragments of 20-35 disaccharides showed aggregationbeyond the dimer level. HA fragments of approximately35 or more disaccharides were thought to be capable ofassociating intramolecularly with the formation of“hairpins”.Model of Turner et al. for self-association of HAsegments as a function of the length of the segments.28