title: The structure of the agaran sulfate from Acanthophora spicifera (Rhodomelaceae, Ceramiales) and its antiviral activity. Relation between structure and antiviral activity in agarans.
abstract: The sulfated agaran isolated by water extraction from the red seaweed, Acanthophora spicifera (Rhodomelaceae, Ceramiales), is made up of A-units highly substituted with sulfate groups on C-2 (28-30%), sulfates on C-2 and 4,6-O-(1'-carboxyethylidene) groups (9-15%), and only the C-2 sulfate groups (5-8%) with small amounts of C-6 sulfate, 6-O-methyl, and nonsubstituted residues. B-units are formed mainly by 3,6-anhydro-alpha-L-galactose (15-16%) and its precursor, alpha-L-galactose 6-sulfate (10-17%), together with lesser amounts of 3,6-anhydro-alpha-L-galactose 2-sulfate, alpha-L-galactose 2,6-disulfate, alpha-L-galactose 2,3,6-tri-sulfate, alpha-L-galactose 2,6-disulfate 3-xylose, 2-O-methyl-alpha-L-galactose, and unsubstituted alpha-L-galactose. Small, but significant quantities of beta-D-xylose were found in all the fractions, together with small amounts to traces of D-glucose. Some of the fractions have high antiviral activity. Attempts to correlate structure and antiviral activity in agarans are presented.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Paraná, P.O. Box 19046, CEP 81531-990, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria E R
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.forename: Jean P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Cauduro
authors.forename: Diego G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Noseda
authors.forename: Miguel D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Noseda
authors.forename: Alan G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Pujol
authors.forename: Elsa B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Damonte
authors.forename: Alberto S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Cerezo
mesh_terms: D000362:Agar / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002236:Carbohydrate Conformation; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015394:Molecular Structure; D000461:Rhodophyta / Q000737:chemistry*; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013431:Sulfates / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014709:Vero Cells; D010948:Viral Plaque Assay
chemical_list: D000925:Anticoagulants; D000998:Antiviral Agents; D013431:Sulfates; D000362:Agar