Abstract
Glycomics is an international initiative aimed to understand the structure and function of the glycans from a given type of cell, tissue, organism, kingdom or even environment, as found under certain conditions. Glycomics is one of the latest areas of intense biological research. Glycans of marine sources are unique in terms of structure and function. They differ considerably from those of terrestrial origin. This review discusses the most known marine glycans of potential therapeutic properties. They are chitin, chitosan, and sulfated polysaccharides named glycosaminoglycans, sulfated fucans, and sulfated galactans. Their medical actions are very broad. When certain structural requirements are found, these glycans can exhibit beneficial effects in inflammation, coagulation, thrombosis, cancer growth/metastasis, and vascular biology. Both structure and therapeutic mechanisms of action of these marine glycans are discussed here in straight context with the current glycomic age through a project suggestively named marine medicinal glycomics.
Highlights
After the launch of many international biological ome initiatives, the glycome has emerged as a source of great information (Hart and Copeland, 2010)
Chitin and chitosan (Figure 1A) are likely the mostly abundant polysaccharides from the marine environment. They can show beneficial effects in immune response, against cancer, in hemostasis, as hypocholesteromic and hypolipidemic agents besides exhibiting capacity to enhance drug delivery. Even though they exhibit an impressive range of therapeutic actions, chitin/chitosan fibers have mostly been used in the pharmaceutical market as merely dietary supplements for weight control
As opposed to CS, fucosylated chondroitin sulfate (FucCS) can be used as a potential anti-inflammatory and anticoagulant agent. Both ascidian dermatan sulfate (DS) and FucCS have not been employed in researches of clinical trials
Summary
After the launch of many international biological ome initiatives, the glycome has emerged as a source of great information (Hart and Copeland, 2010). These glycans are chitin, chitosan, and sulfated polysaccharides (SPs), named GAGs, SFs, and SGs. When certain structural features are present, these glycans can exhibit beneficial activities in inflammation, coagulation, thrombosis, cancer, and vascular biology.
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