title: Floridoside extracted from the red alga Mastocarpus stellatus is a potent activator of the classical complement pathway.
abstract: Many biological properties of algae have been found to have useful applications in human health, particularly in the fields of oncology and immunology. Floridoside, extracted from the red alga Mastocarpus stellatus, has a structure similar to the xenoantigen Gal alpha 1-3 Gal. This xenoantigen has been described to induce a high immune response in human xenografts and is mediated by natural anti-gal antibodies that activate the classical complement pathway. Based on this property, we analyzed the potential activities of floridoside on the immune system. We demonstrated that floridoside activates a complement cascade via the classical complement pathway, through the recruitment and activation of natural IgM. This algal molecule could represent an important step in the development of a potent new anticomplementary agent for use in therapeutic complement depletion.
authors.affiliation: Biotechnologies and Marine Molecules laboratory, IFREMER - Brest Center, Technopôle Brest-Iroise, France. Anthony.Courtois@ifremer.fr
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Courtois
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Simon-Colin
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boisset
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Berthou
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Deslandes
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guézennec
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bordron
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003171:Complement Pathway, Classical / Q000187:drug effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005990:Glycerol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D015394:Molecular Structure; D000461:Rhodophyta / Q000737:chemistry*; D044967:Serum
chemical_list: C457479:2-galactopyranosylglycerol; D005990:Glycerol