Evaluation of biomolecular interactions of sulfated polysaccharide isolated from Grateloupia filicina on blood coagulation factors

An edible marine red alga, Grateloupia filicina, collected from Jeju Island of Korea was hydrolyzed by cheap food-grade carbohydrases (Viscozyme, Celluclast, AMG, Termamyl, and Ultraflo) to investigate its anticoagulant activity. Among the tested enzymatic extracts of G. filicina, a Termamyl extract showed the highest anticoagulant activity. Anion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and gelpermeation chromatography on Sepharose-4B were used to purify the active polysaccharide from the crude polysaccharide fraction of G. filicina. The purified sulfated polysaccharide (0.42 sulfate/total sugar) showed approximately 1,357 kDa molecular mass and was comprised mainly of galactose (98%) and 1-2% of glucose. The sample showed potential anticoagulant activity on activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and thrombin time (TT) assays. The purified G. filicina anticoagulant (GFA) inhibited the coagulation factor X (92%), factor II (82%), and factor VII (68%) of the coagulation cascade, and the molecular interaction (protein-polysaccharide) was highly enhanced in the presence of ATIII (antithrombin III). The dissociation constant of polysaccharide towards serine proteins decreased in the order of FXa (58.9 nM) >FIIa (74.6 nM) >FVII (109.3 nM). The low/less cytotoxicity of the polysaccharide benefits its use in the pharmaceutical industry; however, further studies that would help us to elucidate the mechanism of its activity are needed.