Polymer grafting by polysaccharide synthases

A method for elongating a hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor, comprising the steps of:

• providing a hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor, wherein the hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor has at least two sugar units selected from the group consisting of GlcA and GlcNAc;
• providing a hyaluronic acid synthase capable of elongating the hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor, wherein the hyaluronic acid synthase is encoded by a nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ. ID NO:
• 2;
• and
• providing UDP-GlcA and UDP-GlcNAc sugars such that the hyaluronic acid synthase elongates the hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor.

A method for elongating a hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor, comprising the steps of:

• providing a hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor, wherein the hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor has at least three sugar units selected from the group consisting of GlcA and GlcNAc;
• providing a hyaluronic acid synthase capable of elongating the hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor, wherein the hyaluronic acid synthase has an amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ. ID NO:1;
• and
• providing UDP-GlcA and UDP-GlcNAc sugars such that the hyaluronic acid synthase elongates the hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor.

A method for elongating a hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor, comprising the steps of:

• providing a hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor, wherein the hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor has at least three sugar units selected from the group consisting of GlcA and GlcNAc;
• providing a hyaluronic acid synthase capable of elongating the hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor, wherein the hyaluronic acid synthase is encoded by a nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ. ID NO:
• 2;
• and
• providing UDP-GlcA and UDP-GlcNAc sugars such that the hyaluronic acid synthase elongates the hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor.

A method of making a glycosidic bond between a hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor and at least one of GlcA and GlcNAc, comprising the steps of:

• providing a hyaluronic acid synthase capable of making a glycosidic bond between a hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor and at least one of GlcA and GlcNAc, wherein the hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor has at least two sugar units selected from the group consisting of GlcA and GlcNAc and further wherein the hyaluronic acid synthase is encoded by a nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:
• 2;
• and
• incubating the hyaluronic acid synthase with at least one of UDP-GlcA and UDP-GlcNAc in the presence of the hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor so as to form the glycosidic bond between the hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor and at least one of GlcA and GlcNAc.

A method of making a glycosidic bond between a hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor and at least one of GlcA and GlcNAc, comprising the steps of:

• providing a hyaluronic acid synthase capable of making a glycosidic bond between a hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor and at least one of GlcA and GlcNAc, wherein the hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor has at least three sugar units selected from the group consisting of GlcA and GlcNAc and further wherein the hyaluronic acid synthase is encoded by a nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ. ID NO:
• 2;
• and
• incubating the hyaluronic acid synthase with at least one of UDP-GlcA and UDP-GlcNAc in the presence of the hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor so as to form the glycosidic bond between the hyaluronic acid polymer acceptor and at least one of GlcA and GlcNAc.