Isolation, characterization and structural determination of a unique type of arabinogalactan from an immunostimulatory extract of Chlorella pyrenoidosa

Carbohydr Res. 2005 Jun 13;340(8):1489-98. doi: 10.1016/j.carres.2005.04.003.

Abstract

An arabinogalactan was isolated from a hot water extract of freeze-dried cells of the green microalga, Chlorella pyrenoidosa. This hot water extract is a proprietary immunomodulator, with the trademark Respondintrade mark (ONC-107). The arabinogalactan was recovered from the ethanol-soluble fraction of the supernatant resulting from a process that involved controlled ethanol precipitation followed by size exclusion chromatography on Sephadex G-100, then Cetavlon precipitation. Sugar analyses, GC-MS data for (S)-2-octyl glycosides, and 1D and 2D NMR experiments established unambiguously that the repeating unit was -->2)-alpha-L-Araf-(1-->3)-[alpha-L-Araf-(1-->4)]-beta-D-Galp-(1-->. This structure does not fit into any of the known classes of arabinogalactans. SEC/MALS experiments gave a molecular mass for the arabinogalactan isolated as 47 +/- 4 kDa but the original structure was probably larger.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Carbohydrate Sequence
  • Cell Extracts / chemistry*
  • Cell Extracts / immunology*
  • Cell Line
  • Chlorella / chemistry*
  • Chlorella / immunology*
  • Chromatography, Gel
  • Dextrans
  • Galactans / chemistry*
  • Galactans / isolation & purification*
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Mice
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Molecular Weight
  • Nitric Oxide / metabolism

Substances

  • Cell Extracts
  • Dextrans
  • Galactans
  • Nitric Oxide
  • sephadex
  • arabinogalactan