Biomolecular structures of naturally occurring carbohydrate polymers

The bonding mechanism in proteins and polysaccharides is compared and contrasted. Some of the structures for polyglucose are shown to mimic the classic β-sheet, -helix and collagen helices found in proteins. The effects of glycosidic linkage geometry on polysaccharide shape and structure is discussed together with the effect of changes in the geometry of the monomer units. Multistranded ropes and the effect of non-carbohydrate groups are mentioned briefly.     

Micropatterned carbohydrate displays by self-assembly of glycoconjugate polymers on hydrophobic templates on silicon

We report a novel strategy for micropatterned carbohydrate displays on Si substrates. This method exploited the hydrophobic-hydrophilic microfabrication by photolithography of ODS-SAM on Si substrates and the subsequent selective self-assembly of glycoconjugate polymers onto the hydrophobic regions. Protein micropatterning by molecular recognition on the carbohydrate substrates was also successful.     

Evaluation of antitumour activity of tea carbohydrate polymers in hepatocellular carcinoma animals

Box-Behnken design criterion was applied to identify the significant effects of various extraction parameters such as temperature, time, and solvent-solid ratio on extraction of tea carbohydrate. Among the three variables tested extraction temperature, and solvent-solid ratio were found to have significant effect on tea carbohydrate extraction. The most suitable condition for extraction of tea carbohydrate was found to be a single step extraction at extraction temperature 90°C, extraction time 30 min, and solvent-solid ratio 5:1. At these optimum extraction parameters, the maximum yield of tea carbohydrate obtained experimentally was found to be very close to its predicted value of 3.47% dry weight of root. Then, we have studied the influence of tea carbohydrate on biochemical parameters in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) animals. Hepatocellular carcinoma was induced by the injection of 1×10(5) H22 hepatocarcinoma cells into right hind thigh muscle in experimental animals. Tea carbohydrate could inhibit tumour growth and decrease microvessel density in tumour tissue. The altered amount of serum white blood cells (WBC), Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in HCC animals were dose-dependently increased, whereas activities of serum alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were dose-dependently decreased in the drug treated animals. In addition, tea carbohydrate administration could decrease expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in H22 tumor tissue. It can be concluded that tea carbohydrate displayed strong antitumour activity in animals.     

Three phase partitioning of carbohydrate polymers: separation and purification of alginates

Three phase partitioning, a technique described for protein purification, has been employed for precipitation and purification of three different commercial preparations of alginates. Three phase partitioning works by the addition of t-butanol to aqueous solution of the polymer containing 20–30% ammonium sulphate (w/v). Three phases formed are: upper t-butanol layer, interfacial polymer precipitate and lower aqueous phase. In all the three cases, the process optimization was carried out by varying ammonium sulphate concentration, volume of t-butanol, alginate concentration and temperature. Fluorescence spectroscopy was used to show that repeated cycles of TPP also resulted in considerable reduction in polyphenol content of a crude alginate preparation.     

Kinetics and mechanism of thermal degradation of pentose- and hexose-based carbohydrate polymers

This work aims at study of thermal degradation kinetics and mechanism of pentose- and hexose-based carbohydrate polymers isolated from Plantago ovata (PO), Salvia aegyptiaca (SA) and Ocimum basilicum (OB). The analysis was performed by isoconversional method. The materials exhibited mainly two-stage degradation. The weight loss at ambient-115°C characterized by low activation energy corresponds to loss of moisture. The kinetic triplets consisting of E, A and g(α) model of the materials were determined. The major degradation stage represents a loss of high boiling volatile components. This stage is exothermic in nature. Above 340°C complete degradation takes place leaving a residue of 10-15%. The master plots of g(α) function clearly differentiated the degradation mechanism of hexose-based OB and SA polymers and pentose-based PO polymer. The pentose-based carbohydrate polymer showed D(4) type and the hexose-based polymers showed A(4) type degradation mechanism.     

Freeze-drying of nanostructure lipid carriers by different carbohydrate polymers used as cryoprotectants

Freeze-drying technique preserves the stability of nanoparticles. The objective of this study was optimization of freeze-drying condition of nano lipid carriers (NLCs). NLCs were prepared by emulsion-solvent evaporation followed by ultra-sonication method. Different carbohydrate and polymeric cryoprotectants including Microcelac^® (mixture of lactose and Avicel), Avicel PH102 (microcrystalline cellulose), mannitol, sucrose, Avicel RC591 (mixture of microcrystalline cellulose and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose), maltodextrine, Aerosil and PEG4000 were tested initially. The NLCs showing lower particle size growth and greater absolute zeta potential after freeze drying were chosen for further investigation using Taguchi optimization method. Studied factors included cryoprotectant type and concentration, freezing temperatures applied at different time periods and sublimation time. Sucrose, Avicel RC591 and Aerosil were selected as cryoprotectants from initial screening tests. Increasing their concentration increased the particle size. 1% of Avicel RC591, 24 h of freezing at ?70 °C and 48 h sublimation time showed lower growth in particle size.     

Isolation and characterisation of resistant-to-fermentation carbohydrate polymers from cultures of Rhizopus nigricans grown on agrofood waste materials

Rhizopus nigricans was cultivated in a liquid medium using lemon, mandarin, orange, pear and melon peel or artichoke bracts as the carbon source. In all cultures, a carbohydrate polymer fraction remained resistant to fermentation. These fractions were isolated in gram amounts and characterised. The molecular weight distribution of the fractions and its sugar composition resembles those of the hairy-regions of the pectins. In the fractions, four main carbohydrates were found: 4-7 mol% Rha, 42-59 mol% Ara, 7-14 mol% Gal, 17-33 mol% GalA.