This review focuses on the in vitro synthesis of polysaccharides, the method of which is "enzymatic polymerization" mainly developed by our group. Polysaccharides are formed by repeated glycosylation reactions between a glycosyl donor and a glycosyl acceptor. A hydrolysis enzyme was found very efficient as catalyst, where the monomer is designed based on the new concept of a "transition-state a...

Recent developments in tissue engineering approaches frequently revolve around the use of three-dimensional scaffolds to function as the template for cellular activities to repair, rebuild and regenerate damaged or lost tissues. While there are several biomaterials to select as three-dimensional scaffolds, it is generally agreed that a biomaterial to be used in tissue engineering needs to posse...

Polyuronides are an acidic class of polysaccharides with interesting rheological and biological properties. However, except pectin and alginate, the structural variability of this class of polysaccharides is poor and low described in literature. In this context, a new generation of polyuronides has been isolated from two sources in the middle of the 90’s. Firstly, a bacterial -(1,4) polyglucuro...

The N-terminal cellulose-binding domain (CBDN1) from Cellulomonas fimi beta-1,4-glucanase CenC binds amorphous but not crystalline cellulose. To investigate the structural and thermodynamic bases of cellulose binding, NMR and difference ultraviolet absorbance spectroscopy were used in parallel with calorimetry (Tomme, P., Creagh, A. L., Kilburn, D. G., & Haynes, C. A., (1996) Biochemistry 35, 1...

BACKGROUND Second-generation biofuels are generally produced from the polysaccharides in the lignocellulosic plant biomass, mainly cellulose. However, because cellulose is embedded in a matrix of other polysaccharides and lignin, its hydrolysis into the fermentable glucose is hampered. The senesced inflorescence stems of a set of 20 Arabidopsis thaliana mutants in 10 different genes of the lign...

BACKGROUND Lytic polysaccharide monooxgygenases (LPMOs) are known to boost the hydrolytic breakdown of lignocellulosic biomass, especially cellulose, due to their oxidative mechanism. For their activity, LPMOs require an electron donor for reducing the divalent copper cofactor. LPMO activities are mainly investigated with ascorbic acid as a reducing agent, but little is known about the effect o...

Cellulose is expected to have a key role in the sustainable society in the future. This natural polysaccharide can be used as alternative raw material to petrochemical products. Cellulose based functional materials can be modified to desired applications by changing their physicochemical properties. Chemical and/or biochemical reactions have so far been used to modify chemical groups on cellulo...

An antigen common to Enterobacteriaceae and closely associated with endotoxin fractions has been separated by chromatography on DEAE cellulose employing elution with a NaCl gradient. The purified common antigen fails to coat erythrocytes, is poorly, if at all antigenic, it is non-dialyzable and excluded from sephadex G-100 gel. It is composed of polysaccharide and polypeptide. The most importan...