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Flaxseed, a Functional Food—Constituents and Their Health Benefits
Published in Robert Fried, Richard M. Carlton, Flaxseed, 2023
Robert Fried, Richard M. Carlton
Mucilage gums are polysaccharides that become viscous when mixed with water or other fluids and have an important role in laxatives. Polysaccharides are carbohydrates, such as starch, cellulose or glycogen, whose molecules consist of a number of sugar molecules bonded together as a polymer.
Optical Nanoprobes for Diagnosis
Published in D. Sakthi Kumar, Aswathy Ravindran Girija, Bionanotechnology in Cancer, 2023
R. G. Aswathy, D. Sakthi Kumar
Polysaccharides are the most prevalent polymers for the synthesis of nanocarriers for imaging and drug/gene delivery applications, owing of their exceptional physical and biological properties. The presence of several functional groups on the polysaccharide polymers makes them vulnerable for easy biochemical modification. Polysaccharides are stable, hydrophilic, and biocompatible, and many of them are easily biodegradable. There are several reports on the application of various polysaccharides, including chitosan, carboxymethyl chitosan, carboxymethyl cellulose, and cyclodextrin. In addition to the various plant-based polysaccharides, microbial polysaccharides are also being exploited. Carboxymethyl cellulose-based QDs for imaging cancer cells were developed [180]. In another study, fluorescein isothiocyanate was integrated into carboxymethyl cellulose NPs with MNPs and the uptake of targeted NPs in cancer cells was observed [181]. Microbial polysaccharide especially Mauran from Halomonas maura was studied and was employed for biomedical research. The NP based on Mauran was labeled with Sypro ruby and conjugated with QDs and then the uptake of the same by cancer cells was studied. Other polysaccharides, such as heparin and dextran, have also been used for the development of targeted NPs, drug delivery, and imaging studies [182].
Biomacromolecules from Marine Organisms and Their Biomedical Application
Published in Se-Kwon Kim, Marine Biochemistry, 2023
Pitchiah Sivaperumal, Kannan Kamala, Ganapathy Dhanraj
Moreover, the research on new natural sulfated polysaccharides with significant antithrombotic and anticoagulant action is an attractive alternative for the traditional heparin usage in medicine. There are many reports of other sulfated compounds from marine origins, such as heparin and fucans, also investigated (Brito et al., 2014; McLellan and Jurd 1992; Pavao et al., 1995). Venkata Rao and Sri Ramana (1991) reported structural studies of polysaccharide of the green seaweed Chaetomorpha anteninna of Indian waters. Antiviral polysaccharides have been reported from the red seaweed Gracilaria corticate, as well as brown seaweed Stoechospermum marginatum of Indian waters (Adhikari et al., 2005). Fucoidan is a polysaccharide derived from Fucus vesiculosus, which is composed of L-fucose, at 44%, and sulfate with a linear backbone, at 26%. Fucoidan is well known for the treatment of atherosclerosis (Wang et al., 2010). Similarly, laminarian polysaccharides consist of D-glucopyranose with a length of 20–25 disaccharides (Nelson et al., 1974). Generally, ulvan is extracted from the green algae Ulva lactuca and U. pertusa (Qi et al., 2012). Seaweed polysaccharides, including the sulfated ones, have been extensively reported to be exhibiting various bioactivities, for example, antiviral and anticoagulant properties (Siddhanta and Sai Krishnamurthy, 2001). Partially reduced sulphated alginic acid was reported to exhibit antithrombic activity (Shanmugam and Mody, 2000).
Prediction of biological development effects on drag forces of ceramic hull coating using Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes-based solver
Published in Biofouling, 2023
David S. Sanz, Sergio García, Alfredo Trueba, Hafizul Islam, C. Guedes Soares
The various artificial metal structures developed hitherto in marine environments are typically adversely affected by two types of fouling. The first is corrosion, which is defined by Arzaghi et al. (2020) as the degradation of a material due to chemical and electrochemical reactions with its surrounding environment; however, the actions of plants and living organisms are harmful as well. These organisms adhere and accumulate, forming biotic deposits on submerged surfaces or simply establish contact with seawater, which contains organic components such as microorganisms, plants, algae or animals. This process is associated with a self-produced polymer matrix known as a biofilm, which can include inorganic components such as salts or corrosion products (Boullosa-Falces et al. 2020, 2022). This phenomenon is known as biofouling, which generally involves complex communities whose action induces the alteration and destruction of materials. Biofouling primarily involves polysaccharides and water. The components of polysaccharides vary depending on the species, but they typically include repeating oligosaccharides such as glucose, mannose, galactose and xylose (García and Trueba 2018).
Intestinal Inflammation as a Dysbiosis of Energy Procurement: New Insights into an Old Topic
Published in Gut Microbes, 2021
J. Scott Lee, Ruth X. Wang, Erica E. Alexeev, Sean P. Colgan
Humans consume a wide range of complex carbohydrates, many of these dietary polysaccharides endure digestion and pass through the stomach and small intestine. These resistant starches (RS) and non-starch polysaccharides (NSP, the major component of dietary fiber) reach the colon, providing the primary energy source for the system, where they are fermented by the microbiota to short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Even though NSP completely resists digestion by intrinsic human intestinal digestive enzymes, its intake may account for only 25% of the calculated production of SCFAs.87 This deficit is partially filled by oligosaccharides, but dietary RS are often the single largest contributor to colonic microbial growth.88 These RS are fermented by specialized microorganisms to ultimately produce the SCFAs acetate, propionate, and butyrate. Succinate and lactate are also prominent fermentation products but generally do not accumulate higher than 5 mM in healthy adults, as they are substrates for other bacteria, including propionate and butyrate producers.89–91 Protein fermentation can also occur in the distal colon, as various amino acids can be used to produce SCFAs, but is less favored to carbohydrate substrate and also generates potentially toxic metabolites such as ammonia, indoles, and phenols.89 Such an imbalance between SCFAs and toxic metabolites may contribute to the pathogenesis of IBD and colon cancer.92
Emerging therapeutic targets for neuroblastoma
Published in Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets, 2020
Natarajan Aravindan, Terence Herman, Sheeja Aravindan
Many recent findings indicated the potential of natural phytochemicals in HR-NB treatment. As discussed above, the benefit of ginsenoside-RK1 in targeting NB EMT and malignancy/metastatic behavior has been realized [103]. Likewise, studies have extensively documented the anti-tumor and chemo/radiosensitizing potential (and mechanisms) of curcumin and its synthetic analogues in NB [155–158]. 4-hydroxy chalcone (4HC, flavonoid) treatment induced NB cell death by increasing oxidative stress and LDH activity, and prompted chemosensitization to doxorubicin and cisplatin [159]. Conversely, a polysaccharide from Angelica sinensis has been shown to attenuate BCl2, activate Bax and Casp3, and promote apoptosis [160]. This polysaccharide: (i) inhibited the TGFβ1-induced EMT by targeting N-Cad, vimentin, and Zeb1 and activating E-Cad and (ii) upregulated TS-miR-205, consequently suppressing PI3K/AKT and ERK1/2 signaling [160]. Also, S-allyl-L-cysteine from aged-garlic extract prompted mitochondrial membrane depolarization and induced NB cell death [161].