We and others have also described films made from GAGs, with thicknesses ranging from tens of nm to μm, as models of the glycocalyx and glycan-rich extracellular matrix. A common approach to achieve such films is by incorporating biotin at the reducing ends of hyaluronic acid (HA) or sulfated GAGs as an anchor for their attachment on a surface. The biophysical properties of the resulting films were studied in detail, including surface density, thickness, elasticity and porosity. Such films have proven versatile to study how GAG-binding proteins (e.g., chemokines, growth factors, TSG-6 ) and proteoglycans (e.g., aggrecan ) bind to GAG films and modulate their biophysical properties.