Marine Animal Polysaccharide Characterization Service

Marine Animal Polysaccharide Characterization Service at CD BioGlyco

Marine animal polysaccharides come from a wide range of sources. Many marine animals contain different types and amounts of bioactive polysaccharides, such as echinoderms, molluscs, crustaceans, mammals, and fish. CD BioGlyco provides Extraction, purification, Characterization, and application development (such as Drug-Delivery Vehicle Development and Vaccine Development) services of marine animal polysaccharides from different sources to clients around the world. Our services are as follows:

Marine Animal Polysaccharide Extraction Services

In addition to existing in the free state, polysaccharides in living organisms also exist in a combined form. We use different methods to extract polysaccharides according to the characteristics of polysaccharides from different sources, such as water extraction, alkali extraction, and enzyme extraction.

• Water extraction method: Since sulfate groups are prone to desulfurization after alkali treatment, extraction with water and neutral salt is relatively mild and suitable for the extraction of hyaluronic acid and other polysaccharides that do not contain sulfate groups.
• Alkali extraction method: Based on the instability of glycopeptide bonds in proteoglycans to alkali, the alkali extraction method is used to completely extract marine animal polysaccharides. The extraction process is carried out under mild conditions to prevent alkali degradation of aminopolysaccharides.
• Enzyme extraction method: Protease hydrolysis is an ideal method for extracting polysaccharides from marine animals. A protease with low specificity is usually used to fully hydrolyze the protein. Commonly used proteases include subtilisin, pepsin, trypsin, papain, and streptomyces. etc.

Purification of Marine Animal Polysaccharides

The extracted marine animal polysaccharides are a type of polysaccharide mixture with similar components and properties. They need to be further purified to separate them into single components. Commonly used methods include precipitation, quaternary ammonium salt complexation, column chromatography, etc.

• Precipitation method: The precipitation method is the simplest and most commonly used purification method. Commonly used precipitants include ethanol, barium salt, zinc salt, potassium acetate, etc.
• Quaternary ammonium salt complex method: Quaternary ammonium salts are cationic surfactants with long-chain alkyl groups as lipophilic groups. They form insoluble complexes with acidic polysaccharides that exist as polyanions in the solution. We separate marine animal polysaccharides based on their molecular weight, charge density, and solvent system parameters.
• Chromatography: Ion exchange column chromatography uses an ion exchanger as a stationary phase. Separation is achieved based on the difference in ion exchange capabilities between the separated components and the stationary phase. Gel column chromatography uses salt solutions or buffers of different concentrations as eluents and isocratic elution to separate polysaccharides of different molecular sizes.

Fig.1 Marine animal polysaccharide characterization service. (CD BioGlyco)

Characterization of Marine Animal Polysaccharides

Structural analysis of marine animal polysaccharides is the basis for revealing their biological activities and structure-activity relationships, including primary structure analysis and advanced structure analysis. Primary structure analysis mainly includes the determination of total sugar content, monosaccharide composition and proportion, molecular weight size and distribution, glycosidic bond type, and connection method. Advanced structural analysis includes supramolecular structure, network structure, conformation in solution, etc. We have established a complete marine animal polysaccharide analysis system to help clients analyze the primary and advanced structures of polysaccharides from marine animals, including but not limited to:

• Chitin Characterization Service
• Chitosan Characterization Service
• Chitooligosaccharide Characterization Service
• Glycosaminoglycan Characterization Service

Publication

Technology: MS, ESI-MS, MALDI-MS

Journal: Marine Drugs

IF: 5.4

Published: 2014

Results: The authors used MS technology to characterize sulfated fucosan oligosaccharides derived from echinoderms, chitosan oligosaccharides derived from crustaceans, glycosaminoglycan oligosaccharides derived from marine animals, and glycosaminoglycan-like oligosaccharides derived from marine invertebrates. Obtain information on the molecular weight, composition, sequence, inter-residue linkage positions, and substituent distribution of these oligosaccharide molecules. ESI or MALDI-MS is used to directly analyze neutral or less sulfated oligosaccharides in their free acid form. Those highly sulfated oligosaccharides are analyzed by ESI-MS in their stable sodiated form or by derivatization.

Fig.2 Tandem mass spectra of ∆-unsaturated dp4 derived from chondroitin sulfate. (Lang, et al., 2014)

Applications

• Food research: Marine animal polysaccharides are one of the important raw materials for the development of nutritious and healthy drinks. Most of them have good water solubility. In addition to giving certain health care functions to the drinks, they also play a role in thickening, stabilizing, and improving the taste.
• Cosmetic field: Natural extracts from marine animal bodies inhibit skin aging, maintain skin elasticity, accelerate the penetration of cosmetics, and improve skin moisturizing ability.
• Medical field: Acidic mucopolysaccharides extracted from animal organs have anticoagulant effects, such as chondroitin sulfate.

Advantages

• We have established a complete marine animal polysaccharide analysis system to help clients analyze the primary and advanced structures of marine animal polysaccharides, and provide a theoretical basis for revealing their Biological Activities and structure-activity relationships.
• We help clients run comprehensive primary structure analysis services, including but not limited to determining the total sugar content, monosaccharide composition, molecular weight size, molecular weight distribution, glycosidic bond type, and glycosidic bond connection method of polysaccharides.
• Our professional research team understands the detailed principles, advantages, disadvantages, and precautions of various polysaccharide analysis methods. Combined with the source and type of the sample, comprehensive analysis methods are used to facilitate the structural study of polysaccharides.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to accurately characterize the structure of marine animal polysaccharides?

Marine animal polysaccharides are usually composed of various monosaccharides linked by glycosidic bonds. To accurately characterize the polysaccharide structure, the following attention is required: Use of various separation and purification methods such as fractionated precipitation and column separation to obtain polysaccharides with high sugar content, narrow molecular weight distribution, and good electrical core uniformity; Comprehensive use of chemical analysis and instrumental analysis to characterize polysaccharide primary structures such as relative molecular mass, monosaccharide composition, configuration and ring-forming type of monosaccharide residues, sugar residue connection methods, main chain and branched structures.

What physiological regulatory functions do marine animal polysaccharides have?

The bioactive functions of marine animal polysaccharides in immunomodulation, anti-tumor, antioxidant, anti-aging, anti-coagulation, anti-thrombosis, and hypolipidemia make it widely used in drugs, functional foods, and medical research. For example, marine animal polysaccharides exert anti-tumor effects in three ways: inducing tumor cell apoptosis and inhibiting their proliferation; enhancing the body's immune function; and related to the antioxidant and free radical scavenging functions of polysaccharides.

CD BioGlyco provides our clients with extraction, purification, and characterization services for marine biomolecules. We also Modify marine biomolecules to improve their structure or biological activity. If you have any needs in the field of marine biology, please feel free to contact us for further options.