Sulfated polysaccharides are capable of binding with proteins at several levels of specificity. As highly acidic macromolecules, they can bind non-specifically to any basic patch on a protein surface at low ionic strength, and such interactions are not likely to be physiologically significant. On the other hand, several systems have been identified in which very specific substructures of sulfat...

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) such as hyaluronan (HA) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) are important, natural polysaccharides which occur in biological (connective) tissues and have various biotechnological and medical applications. Additionally, there is increasing evidence that chemically (over)sulfated GAGs possess promising properties and are useful as implant coatings. Unfortunately, a detailed ch...

Natural anionic polysaccharides fucosylated chondroitin sulfates (FCS) from sea cucumbers attract great attention nowadays due to their ability to influence various biological processes, such as blood coagulation, thrombosis, angiogenesis, inflammation, bacterial and viral adhesion. To determine pharmacophore fragments in FCS we have started systematic synthesis of oligosaccharides with well-de...

Neuropilin-1 (NRP1) and NRP2 are cell surface receptors shared by class 3 semaphorins and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Ligand interaction with NRPs selects the specific signal transducer, plexins for semaphorins or VEGF receptors for VEGF, and promotes NRP internalization, which effectively shuts down receptor-mediated signaling by a second ligand. Here, we show that the sulfated ...

Additional therapeutic options are needed for patients with bleeding disorders such as hemophilia A, hemophilia B, severe von Willebrand disease, and other rare factor deficiencies. A novel approach to improve coagulation in such clotting disorders has been identified that, parodoxically, involves heparinlike sulfated polysaccharides. Select molecules of this broad class are largely devoid of a...

We have developed an antibody-based method to assess plasma uptake of a proprietary Undaria-derived fucoidan galactofucan sulfate (GFS(TM)) after oral ingestion by human volunteers. Fucoidans have high-molecular-weights but exert biological effects in experimental animals after oral intake. By using a novel antibody raised against sulfated polysaccharides, we carried out a competitive ELISA to ...

Adhesion of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes to placental chondroitin 4-sulfate (CSA) has been linked to the severe disease outcome of pregnancy-associated malaria. Soluble polysaccharides that release mature-stage parasitized erythrocytes into the peripheral circulation may help elucidate these interactions and have the potential to aid in developing therapeutic strategies. We have ...

Fucan is a term used to denominate a family of sulfated polysaccharides rich in sulfated l-fucose. Heterofucan SF-1.5v was extracted from the brown seaweed Sargassum filipendula by proteolytic digestion followed by sequential acetone precipitation. This fucan showed antiproliferative activity on Hela cells and induced apoptosis. However, SF-1.5v was not able to activate caspases. Moreover, SF-1...

Fucoidans constitute a large family of sulfated polysaccharides with several biochemical properties. A commercial fucoidan from brown algae, containing low molecular weight polysaccharidic species constituted of l-fucose, uronic acids and sulfate groups, was simply treated here with calcium acetate solution. This treatment led to a purified fraction with a yield of 45%. The physicochemical char...

BACKGROUND Many viruses display affinity for cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans with biological relevance in virus entry. This raises the possibility of the application of sulfated polysaccharides in antiviral therapy. METHODS In this study, we analysed polysaccharide fractions isolated from Sebdenia polydactyla. RESULTS The purified xylomannan sulfate and its further sulfated deriv...