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
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
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- Marine organisms
- Sulfated polysaccharide
- Sulfation
- Physicochemical characterization.
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