Atherosclerosis commences with the trapping of low density lipoproteins (LDLs) in blood vessels by modified proteoglycans (PGs) with hyperelongated glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains. GAG chain synthesis and growth factor mediated hyperelongation regulates the composition and size of PGs in a manner that would cause low density lipoprotein (LDLs) retention in vessel wall. Galactosaminoglycans are a class of GAGs, commonly observed on PGs. Multiple enzymes are involved in galactosaminoglycan biosynthesis. Galactosaminoglycan synthesis is regulated by various signalling pathways which are amenable to pharmacological manipulation to treat atherosclerosis. Receptor mediated signalling pathways including protein tyrosine kinase receptors (PTKRs), serine/threonine kinase receptors (S/TKRs) and G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) pathways regulate galactosaminoglycan synthesizing enzyme expression. Increased expression of these enzymes modify galactosaminoglycan chain structure by making them hyperelongated. This review focuses on the signalling pathways regulating the expression of genes involved in galactosaminoglycan synthesis and modification. Furthermore, there are multiple other processes for inhibiting the interactions between LDL and galactosaminoglycans such as peptide mimetics of ApoB100 and anti-galactosaminoglycan antibodies and the therapeutic potential of these strategies is also addressed.
From food to fertilizer, algal derived products are largely employed in assorted industries, including agricultural, biomedical, food, and pharmaceutical industries. Among different chemical compositions isolated from algae, polysaccharides are the most well-established compounds, which were subjected to a variety of studies due to extensive bioactivities. Over the past few decades, the promising results for antiviral potential of algae-derived polysaccharides have advocated them as inordinate candidates for pharmaceutical research. Numerous studies have isolated various algal polysaccharides possessing antiviral activities, including carrageenan, alginate, fucan, laminaran, and naviculan. In addition, different mechanisms of action have been reported for these polysaccharides, such as inhibiting the binding or internalization of virus into the host cells or suppressing DNA replication and protein synthesis. This review strives for compiling previous antiviral studies of algae-derived polysaccharides and their mechanism of action towards their development as natural antiviral agents for future investigations.
The current study is motivated by the strict environmental regulations regarding the utilization and consumption of ecofriendly materials. In this context, the aim of this study has been to prepare and characterize different date palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera L.) fibers processed through the conventional water retting method. The chemical, elemental, crystallinity, thermal and morphological characterization of trunk (DPTRF), leaf stalk (DPLST), sheath or leaf sheath (DPLSH) and fruit bunch stalk (DPFBS) fibers was carried out. Chemical analysis revealed that the four types of date palm fibers display noteworthy differences in the content of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Also, the amount of calcium is relatively high in all the date palm fibers; besides this, DPTRF exhibited 69.2% crystallinity, which is lower than that of DPLSH with 72.4% crystallinity. Moreover, DPLST and DPFBS fibers are more thermally stable (higher thermal degradation temperature) than DPTRF and DPLSH samples. Morphological analysis revealed that the fracture surface of DPFBS was relatively rougher, which would probably lead to increased bonding strength with polymers in composites. Overall, we conclude that DPFBS would be promising alternative sustainable and biomass material for the isolation of respective cellulose nanofibers and cellulose nanocrystals as potential reinforcement in polymer composites.
The main objective of the current work was to characterize the shear rheological flow behaviour and emulsifying properties of the natural biopolymer from durian seed. The present study revealed that the extraction condition significantly affected the physical and functional characteristics of the natural biopolymer from durian seed. The dynamic oscillatory test indicated that the biopolymer from durian seed showed more gel (or solid) like behaviour than the viscous (or liquid) like behaviour (G'>G″) at a relatively high concentration (20%) in the fixed frequency (0.1 Hz). This might be explained by the fact that the gum coils disentangle at low frequencies during the long period of oscillation, thus resulting in more gel like behaviour than the viscous like behaviour. The average droplet size of oil in water (O/W) emulsions stabilized by durian seed gum significantly varied from 0.42 to 7.48 μm. The results indicated that O/W emulsions showed significant different stability after 4 months storage. This might be interpreted by the considerable effect of the extraction condition on the chemical and molecular structure of the biopolymer, thus affecting its emulsifying capacity. The biopolymer extracted by using low water to seed (W/S) ratio at the low temperature under the alkaline condition showed a relatively high emulsifying activity in O/W emulsion.
In recent years, the demand for a natural plant-based polymer with potential functions from plant sources has increased considerably. The main objective of the current study was to study the effect of chemical extraction conditions on the rheological and functional properties of the heteropolysaccharide/protein biopolymer from durian (Durio zibethinus) seed. The efficiency of different extraction conditions was determined by assessing the extraction yield, protein content, solubility, rheological properties and viscoelastic behavior of the natural polymer from durian seed. The present study revealed that the soaking process had a more significant (p < 0.05) effect than the decolorizing process on the rheological and functional properties of the natural polymer. The considerable changes in the rheological and functional properties of the natural polymer could be due to the significant (p < 0.05) effect of the chemical extraction variables on the protein fraction present in the molecular structure of the natural polymer from durian seed. The natural polymer from durian seed had a more elastic (or gel like) behavior compared to the viscous (liquid like) behavior at low frequency. The present study revealed that the natural heteropolysaccharide/protein polymer from durian seed had a relatively low solubility ranging from 9.1% to 36.0%. This might be due to the presence of impurities, insoluble matter and large particles present in the chemical structure of the natural polymer from durian seed.
Here a mass spectrometry-based platform for the analysis of glycoproteins is presented. Glycopeptides and released glycans are analyzed, the former by quadrupole orthogonal time-of-flight liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (QoTOF LC/MS) and the latter by permethylation analysis using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-TOF MS. QoTOF LC/MS analysis reveals the stochastic distribution of glycoforms at occupied sequons, and the latter provides a semiquantitative assessment of overall protein glycosylation. Hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) was used for unbiased enrichment of glycopeptides and was validated using five model N-glycoproteins bearing a wide array of glycans, including high-mannose, complex, and hybrid subtypes such as sulfo and sialyl forms. Sialyl and especially sulfated glycans are difficult to analyze because these substitutions are labile. The conditions used here allow detection of these compounds quantitatively, intact, and in the context of overall glycosylation. As a test case, we analyzed influenza B/Malaysia/2506/2004 hemagglutinin, a component of the 2006-2007 influenza vaccine. It bears 11 glycosylation sites. Approximately 90% of its glycans are high mannose, and 10% are present as complex and hybrid types, including those with sulfate. The stochastic distribution of glycoforms at glycosylation sites is revealed. This platform should have wide applications to glycoproteins in basic sciences and industry because no apparent bias for any glycoforms is observed.
Bamboo shoot crude polysaccharides (BSCP) extracted from the shoots of Gigantochloa levis gave about 3.27 ± 0.18% on dry basis and a very minute percentage of protein (0.02 ± 0.01%). The molecular weight of BSCP estimated by gel chromatography was found to be around 7.49 × 103 Da, while the molecular weights of purified fractions (F1 to F5) were around 1550.96, 1471.63, 1685.78, 1691.61 and 1551.67 Da, respectively. The FTIR spectrum of BSCP revealed the possibility that the extract contains β-glucan, which can be considered a valuable compound for the medical and food industries. These relate to the resistance of BSCP towards artificial human gastric juice which is more than 99%. Prebiotic activity tested using BSCP as a carbon source showed significant increase in the growth of B. animalis ATCC 1053, B. longum BB 536 and L. acidophilus ATCC 4356 as compared to the use of FOS. Survivality of S. choleraesuis JCM 6977 was found to be slower in both BSCP and FOS. Study conducted reflects a good sign for the BSCP to be exploited as a promising prebiotic.
beta-Galactosidase (EC. 3.2.1.23) from ripe carambola (Averrhoa carambola L. cv. B10) fruit was fractionated through a combination of ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography into four isoforms, viz. beta-galactosidase I, II, III and IV. This beta-galactosidases had apparent native molecular masses of 84, 77, 58 and 130 kDa, respectively. beta-Galactosidase I, the predominant isoform, was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity; analysis of the protein by SDS-PAGE revealed two subunits with molecular masses of 48 and 36 kDa. N-terminal amino acid sequence of the respective polypeptides shared high similarities albeit at different domains, with the deduced amino acid sequence of certain plant beta-galactosidases, thus, explaining the observed low similarity between the two subunits. beta-Galactosidase I was probably a heterodimer that have glycoprotein properties and a pI value of 7.2, with one of the potential glycosylation sites appeared to reside within the 48-kDa-polypeptide. The purified beta-galactosidase I was substantially active in hydrolyzing (1-->4)beta-linked spruce and a mixture of (1-->3)beta- and (1-->6)beta-linked gum arabic galactans. This isoform also had the capability to solubilize and depolymerize structurally intact pectins as well as to modify alkaline-soluble hemicelluloses, reflecting in part changes that occur during ripening.
Epithelial ovarian cancer is one of the most fatal gynecological malignancies in adult women. As studies on protein N-glycosylation have extensively reported aberrant patterns in the ovarian cancer tumor microenvironment, obtaining spatial information will uncover tumor-specific N-glycan alterations in ovarian cancer development and progression. matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is employed to investigate N-glycan distribution on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded ovarian cancer tissue sections from early- and late-stage patients. Tumor-specific N-glycans are identified and structurally characterized by porous graphitized carbon-liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (PGC-LC-ESI-MS/MS), and then assigned to high-resolution images obtained from MALDI-MSI. Spatial distribution of 14 N-glycans is obtained by MALDI-MSI and 42 N-glycans (including structural and compositional isomers) identified and structurally characterized by LC-MS. The spatial distribution of oligomannose, complex neutral, bisecting, and sialylated N-glycan families are localized to the tumor regions of late-stage ovarian cancer patients relative to early-stage patients. Potential N-glycan diagnostic markers that emerge include the oligomannose structure, (Hex)6 + (Man)3 (GlcNAc)2 , and the complex neutral structure, (Hex)2 (HexNAc)2 (Deoxyhexose)1 + (Man)3 (GlcNAc)2 . The distribution of these markers is evaluated using a tissue microarray of early- and late-stage patients.
Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the parameters for microwave-assisted extraction of polysaccharides from Cyphomandra betacea. The results showed a good fit with a second-order polynomial equation that was statistically acceptable at P<0.05. Optimal conditions for the extraction of polysaccharides were: extraction time, 2h; microwave power, 400W; extraction temperature, 60°C; and ratio of raw material to water 1:40 (g/mL). Under the optimized conditions, the yield of polysaccharides was found to be relatively high (about 36.52%). The in vitro biological activities of antioxidant and antitumor were evaluated. The IC50 value of polysaccharides was found to be 3mg/mL. The percentage of Cell viability was determined by MTT assay. Our results showed that polysaccharides inhibited proliferation of MCF-7 (Breast carcinoma), A549 (Human lung carcinoma) and HepG2 (Liver carcinoma) with an IC50 of 0.23mg/mL, 0.17mg/mL and 0.62mg/mL respectively after 48h incubation. Polysaccharides were shown to promote apoptosis as seen in the nuclear morphological examination study using acridine orange (AO) and ethidium bromide (EB) staining. This is the first report on the effects of polysaccharides extracted from Cyphomandra betacea which exhibited stronger antioxidant and antitumor activities.
Research and development in health care industry is in persistence progression. To make it more patient-friendly or to get maximum benefits from it, special attention to different advanced drug delivery system (ADDS) is employed that delivers the drug at the target site and will be able to sustain/control release of drugs. ADDS should be non-toxic, biodegradable, biocompatible along with desirable showing physicochemical and functional properties. These drug delivery systems can be totally based on polymers, either with natural or synthetic polymers. The molecular weight of polymer can be tuned and different groups of polymers can be modified or substituted with other functional groups. Degree of substitution is also tailored. Cationic starch in recent years is exploited in drug delivery, tissue engineering and biomedicine. Due to their abundant availability, low cost, easy chemical modification, low toxicity, biodegradability and biocompatibility, extensive research is now being carried out. Our present discussion will shed light on the usage of cationic starch in health care system.
Carbon and nitrogen sources in culture medium of Antrodia cinnamomea were optimized to eliminate the interference of exterior macromolecules on exopolysaccharide (EPS) yield by submerged fermentation. The results suggested that culture medium containing 50 g/L of glucose and 20 g/L of yeast extract as the optimal carbon and nitrogen sources could produce 1.03 g/L of exopolysaccharides. After purification, two heteropolysaccharides (AC-EPS1 and AC-EPS2) were obtained and characterized to provide the basic structure information. As the main component of the produced EPS, AC-EPS2 (accounting for 89.63%) was mainly composed of galactose (87.42%) with Mw (molecular weight) and R.M.S. (root-mean-square) radius of 1.18 × 105 g/mol and 25.3 nm, respectively. Furthermore, the spherical and flexible chain morphologies of EPS were observed in different solvents by TEM. The structural and morphological information of purified EPS were significant for further study on their structure-activity relationship and related applications.
In the present work, four types of newly chosen municipal solid wastes (Panax ginseng, spent tea residue, waste cotton cloth, and old corrugated cardboard) were studied as the promising sources for nanocellulose, which has efficiently re-engineered the structure of waste products into highly valuable nanocellulose materials. The nanocellulose was produced directly via a facile one-pot oxidative hydrolysis process by using H2O2/Cr(NO3)3 solution as the bleaching agent and hydrolysis medium under acidic condition. The isolated nanocellulose products were well-characterized in terms of chemical composition, product yield, morphological structure and thermal properties. The study has found that the crystallinity index of the obtained nanocellulose products were significantly higher (62.2-83.6%) than that of its starting material due to the successive elimination of lignin, hemicellulose and amorphous regions of cellulose, which were in good agreement with the FTIR analysis. The evidence of the successful production of nanocellulose was given by TEM observation which has revealed the fibril widths were ranging from 15.6 to 46.2nm, with high cellulose content (>90%), depending on the cellulosic origin. The physicochemical properties of processed samples have confirmed that the isolation of high purity nanocellulose materials from different daily spent products is possible. The comparative study can help to provide a deep insight on the possibility of revalorizing the municipal solid wastes into nanocellulose via the simple and versatile one-pot isolation system, which has high potential to be used in commercial applications for sustainable development.
Obesity is a major epidemic that poses a worldwide threat to human health, as it is also associated with metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Therapeutic intervention through weight loss drugs, accompanied by diet and exercise, is one of the options for the treatment and management of obesity. However, the only approved anti-obesity drug currently available in the market is orlistat, a synthetic inhibitor of pancreatic lipase. Other anti-obesity drugs are still being evaluated at different stages of clinical trials, while some have been withdrawn due to their severe adverse effects. Thus, there is a need to look for new anti-obesity agents, especially from biological sources. Marine algae, especially seaweeds are a promising source of anti-obesity agents. Four major bioactive compounds from seaweeds which have the potential as anti-obesity agents are fucoxanthin, alginates, fucoidans and phlorotannins. The anti-obesity effects of such compounds are due to several mechanisms, which include the inhibition of lipid absorption and metabolism (e.g., fucoxanthin and fucoidans), effect on satiety feeling (e.g., alginates), and inhibition of adipocyte differentiation (e.g., fucoxanthin). Further studies, especially testing bioactive compounds in long-term human trials are required before any new anti-obesity drugs based on algal products can be developed.
Polysaccharides (PS) represent a broad class of polymer-based compounds that have been extensively researched as therapeutics and excipients for drug delivery. As pharmaceutical carriers, PS have mostly found their use as adsorbents, suspending agents, as well as cross-linking agents for various formulations such as liposomes, nanoparticles, nanoemulsions, nano lipid carriers, microspheres etc. This is due to inherent properties of PS such as porosity, steric stability and swellability, insolubility in pH. There have been emerging reports on the use of PS as therapeutic agent due to its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties for various diseases. In particular, for Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and inflammatory bowel disease. However, determining the dosage, treatment duration and effective technology transfer of these therapeutic moieties have not occurred. This is due to the fact that PS are still at a nascent stage of development to a full proof therapy for a particular disease. Recently, a combination of polysaccharide which act as a prebiotic and a probiotic have been used as a combination to treat various intestinal and colorectal (CRC) related diseases. This has proven to be beneficial, has shown good in vivo correlation and is well reported. The present review entails a detailed description on the role of PS used as a therapeutic agent and as a formulation pertaining to gastrointestinal diseases.
Oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) was pretreated by Formiline process to overcome biomass recalcitrance and obtain hemicellulosic syrup and lignin. Higher formic acid concentration led to more lignin removal but also higher degree of cellulose formylation. Cellulose digestibility could be well recovered after deformylation with a small amount of lime. After digested by enzyme loading of 15 FPU+10 CBU/g solid for 48 h, the polysaccharide conversion could be over 90%. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) results demonstrated that ethanol concentration reached 83.6 g/L with approximate 85% of theoretic yield when performed at an initial dry solid consistency of 20%. A mass balance showed that via Formiline pretreatment 0.166 kg of ethanol could be produced from 1 kg of dry EFB with co-production of 0.14 kg of high-purity lignin and 5.26 kg hemicellulosic syrup containing 2.8% xylose. Formiline pretreatment thus can be employed as an entry for biorefining of EFB.
For centuries, macrofungi have been used as food and medicine in different parts of the world. This is mainly attributed to their nutritional value as a potential source of carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, and minerals. In addition, they also include many bioactive metabolites which make mushrooms and truffles common components in folk medicine, especially in Africa, the Middle East, China, and Japan. The reported medicinal effects of mushrooms include anti-inflammatory effects, with anti-inflammatory compounds of mushrooms comprising a highly diversified group in terms of their chemical structure. They include polysaccharides, terpenoids, phenolic compounds, and many other low molecular weight molecules. The aims of this review are to report the different types of bioactive metabolites and their relevant producers, as well as the different mechanisms of action of mushroom compounds as potent anti-inflammatory agents.
Ovarian cancer is a fatal gynaecological malignancy in adult women with a five-year overall survival rate of only 30%. Glycomic and glycoproteomic profiling studies have reported extensive protein glycosylation pattern alterations in ovarian cancer. Therefore, spatio-temporal investigation of these glycosylation changes may unearth tissue-specific changes that occur in the development and progression of ovarian cancer. A novel method for investigating tissue-specific N-linked glycans is using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue sections that can spatially profile N-glycan compositions released from proteins in tissue-specific regions. In this study, tissue regions of interest (e.g. tumor, stroma, adipose tissue and necrotic areas) were isolated from FFPE tissue sections of advanced serous ovarian cancers (n = 3). PGC-LC-ESI-MS/MS and MALDI-MSI were used as complementary techniques to firstly generate structural information on the tissue-specific glycans in order to then obtain high resolution images of the glycan structure distribution in ovarian cancer tissue. The N-linked glycan repertoires carried by the proteins in these tissue regions were structurally characterized for the first time in FFPE ovarian cancer tissue regions, using enzymatic peptide-N-glycosidase F (PNGase F) release of N-glycans. The released glycans were analyzed by porous graphitized carbon liquid chromatography (PGC-LC) and collision induced electrospray negative mode MS fragmentation analysis. The N-glycan profiles identified by this analysis were then used to determine the location and distribution of each N-glycan on FFPE ovarian cancer sections that were treated with PNGase F using high resolution MALDI-MSI. A tissue-specific distribution of N-glycan structures identified particular regions of the ovarian cancer sections. For example, high mannose glycans were predominantly expressed in the tumor tissue region whereas complex/hybrid N-glycans were significantly abundant in the intervening stroma. Therefore, tumor and non-tumor tissue regions were clearly demarcated solely on their N-glycan structure distributions.
Hemicelluloses from oil palm frond (OPF) were extracted using 3 M potassium hydroxide (KOH) for 4 h at 40 degrees C with stirring at 400 rpm to obtain hemicelluloses A and B. The total yield of the hemicellulose isolated from OPF was 33% (dry weight). Both hemicelluloses A and B were then subjected to hydrothermal treatment at 121 degrees C and 1.03 x 10(5) Pa for 10, 30, and 50 min. Physicochemical characterizations of hydrothermally treated hemicelluloses, such as Klason lignin content and reducing sugar content, were performed to study the effect of autohydrolysis processing on OPF-derived hemicelluloses. It was shown that Klason lignin content in hemicellulose A was higher than that in hemicellulose B and decreased after hydrothermal treatment. Hydrothermal treatment enhanced the solubility of hemicelluloses, which reflects their higher reducing sugar content. Monosaccharide analysis using HPLC showed that xylose was the predominant monosaccharide for both hemicelluloses A and B.
Freeze-thaw cycles (FTC) pretreatment was employed before the vacuum freeze-drying of garlic slices, aimed at improving the drying process and the quality of the end product. Cell viability, water status, internal structure, flavor, chemical composition and thermogravimetric of garlic samples were evaluated. The results indicated that FTC pretreatment reduced the drying time (22.22%-33.33%) and the energy consumption (14.25%-15.50%), owing to the water loss, the increase in free water, and the formation of porous structures. The FTC pretreatment improved thermal stability, flavor and chemical composition content of dried products. The antioxidant activity of polysaccharides extracted from FTC pretreated dried products was higher than that of the unpretreated dried product due to the reduction in polysaccharide molecular weight. This research could pave a route for future production of dried garlic slices having good quality by using the FTC pretreatment, with lower energy consumption and shorter drying time.