1. Structural analysis and biological activity of a highly regular glycosaminoglycan from Achatina fulica.
- Author
-
Liu, Jie, Zhou, Lutan, He, Zhicheng, Gao, Na, Shang, Feineng, Xu, Jianping, Li, Zi, Yang, Zengming, Wu, Mingyi, and Zhao, Jinhua
- Subjects
- *
GLYCOSAMINOGLYCANS , *MOLECULAR structure , *BIOLOGICAL assay , *GIANT African snail , *FOURIER transform infrared spectroscopy , *URONIC acids - Abstract
Edible snails have been widely used as a health food and medicine in many countries. A unique glycosaminoglycan (AF-GAG) was purified from Achatina fulica . Its structure was analyzed and characterized by chemical and instrumental methods, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, analysis of monosaccharide composition, and 1D/2D nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Chemical composition analysis indicated that AF-GAG is composed of iduronic acid (IdoA) and N -acetyl-glucosamine (GlcNAc) and its average molecular weight is 118 kDa. Structural analysis clarified that the uronic acid unit in glycosaminoglycan (GAG) is the fully epimerized and the sequence of AF-GAG is →4)-α-GlcNAc (1 → 4)-α-IdoA2S (1→. Although its structure with a uniform repeating disaccharide is similar to those of heparin and heparan sulfate, this GAG is structurally highly regular and homogeneous. Anticoagulant activity assays indicated that AF-GAG exhibits no anticoagulant activities, but considering its structural characteristic, other bioactivities such as heparanase inhibition may be worthy of further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF