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Characterization and immunostimulating activity of a water-soluble polysaccharide isolated from Haematococcus lacustris

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Abstract

A water-soluble polysaccharide was isolated and purified from the culture filtrate of the photosynthetic green microalgae Haematococcus lacustris by 75% ethanol precipitation and Sepharose CL-6B column chromatography. The molecular mass of the purified polysaccharide (named HCP) was estimated to be approximately 135 kDa by size-exclusion HPLC and its monosaccharide composition was galactose, glucose and mannose at a relative molar ratio of 2.0, 1.0, and 4.1, respectively, suggesting that HCP is a galactomannan. Fourier-transform infrared and elemental analysis revealed that the purified HCP contains sulfate esters by 1.08% (in mass) and no detectable level of protein. The HCP significantly stimulated murine macrophage RAW264.7 cells to secrete the pro-inflammatory cytokine, TNF-α, in a dose-dependent manner and also enhanced the expression of COX-2 and iNOS genes at a concentration of lower than 10 μg/mL HCP. These results indicated that the sulfated HCP of H. lacustris has potent early innate immune stimulating activities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmaceutical Science, Gachon University of Medicine and Science, Incheon, 406-799, Korea

    Jae Kweon Park

  2. Department of Biological Engineering, Inha University, Incheon, 402-751, Korea

    Z.-Hun Kim & Choul Gyun Lee

  3. Department of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague, 166 28, Prague 6, Czech

    Andriy Synytsya

  4. Department of Biotechnology, The Catholic University of Korea, Bucheon, 420-743, Korea

    Hang Soo Jo, Sung Oog Kim, Joo Woong Park & Yong Il Park

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  1. Jae Kweon Park
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Park, J.K., Kim, ZH., Lee, C.G. et al. Characterization and immunostimulating activity of a water-soluble polysaccharide isolated from Haematococcus lacustris . Biotechnol Bioproc E 16, 1090–1098 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12257-011-0173-9

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