Physico-Chemical Characterization and Pharmacological Activities of Marine Sulfated Polysaccharide

A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2021) | Viewed by 3944

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel
Interests: microalgae; seaweed biology; aquatic ecosystems; marine aquaculture; marine biotechnology; algae; marine algae

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The International Union of Biochemistry (IUMB) defined polysaccharides as macromolecules comprising several monosaccharide residues joined by glycosidic linkages. One of the most abundant substances in marine organisms, polysaccharides exist in a wide range of structures that exhibit equally varied biological functions and properties. Marine algal and bacterial polysaccharides contain sulfate moieties that are absent from terrestrial plants. These sulfate groups confer on the polysaccharides unique antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunostimulatory, anticoagulant and anti-cancer properties that render them pharmacologically relevant. 

The search for novel polysaccharides of natural origin has led to the development of methods to exploit sulfated polysaccharides, mainly from marine environments. Owing to their novel properties and unique pharmacological benefits, marine sulfated polysaccharides are currently utilized in functional foods and cosmetics, but their potential in the pharmaceutical industry has yet to be realized. 

The complexity and diversity of structures exhibited by sulfated polysaccharides suggests that much work remains to be done before we will fully understand their structural characteristics and their rheological and biological properties. An in-depth understanding of their physicochemical structures and characteristics and the unraveling of the corresponding structure–function relationships will enable us to fully exploit this untapped resource and to obtain improved bioactivity for new applications.

Prof. Dr. Shoshana Arad
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Marine organisms
  • Sulfated polysaccharide
  • Sulfation
  • Physicochemical characterization.

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 5784 KiB  
Article
A Marine λ-Oligocarrageenan Inhibits Migratory and Invasive Ability of MDA-MB-231 Human Breast Cancer Cells through Actions on Heparanase Metabolism and MMP-14/MMP-2 Axis
by Rémi Cousin, Hugo Groult, Chanez Manseur, Romain Ferru-Clément, Mario Gani, Rachel Havret, Claire Toucheteau, Grégoire Prunier, Béatrice Colin, Franck Morel, Jean-Marie Piot, Isabelle Lanneluc, Kévin Baranger, Thierry Maugard and Ingrid Fruitier-Arnaudin
Mar. Drugs 2021, 19(10), 546; https://doi.org/10.3390/md19100546 - 28 Sep 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3449
Abstract
Sugar-based molecules such as heparins or natural heparan sulfate polysaccharides have been developed and widely studied for controlling heparanase (HPSE) enzymatic activity, a key player in extracellular matrix remodelling during cancer pathogenesis. However, non-enzymatic functions of HPSE have also been described in tumour [...] Read more.
Sugar-based molecules such as heparins or natural heparan sulfate polysaccharides have been developed and widely studied for controlling heparanase (HPSE) enzymatic activity, a key player in extracellular matrix remodelling during cancer pathogenesis. However, non-enzymatic functions of HPSE have also been described in tumour mechanisms. Given their versatile properties, we hypothesized that sugar-based inhibitors may interfere with enzymatic but also non-enzymatic HPSE activities. In this work, we assessed the effects of an original marine λ-carrageenan derived oligosaccharide (λ-CO) we previously described, along with those of its native counterpart and heparins, on cell viability, proliferation, migration, and invasion of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells but also of sh-MDA-MB-231 cells, in which the expression of HPSE was selectively downregulated. We observed no cytotoxic and no anti-proliferative effects of our compounds but surprisingly λ-CO was the most efficient to reduce cell migration and invasion compared with heparins, and in a HPSE-dependent manner. We provided evidence that λ-CO tightly controlled a HPSE/MMP-14/MMP-2 axis, leading to reduced MMP-2 activity. Altogether, this study highlights λ-CO as a potent HPSE “modulator” capable of reducing not only the enzymatic activity of HPSE but also the functions controlled by the HPSE levels. Full article
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