Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) with unique structures from marine animals show intriguing pharmacological activities and negligible biological risks, providing more options for us to explore safer agents. The swim bladder is a tonic food and folk medicine, and its GAGs show good anticoagulant activity. In this study, two GAGs, CMG-1.0 and GMG-1.0, were extracted and isolated from the swim bladder of Cynoscion microlepidotus and Gadus morhua. The physicochemical properties, precise structural characteristics, and anticoagulant activities of these GAGs were determined for the first time. The analysis results of the CMG-1.0 and GMG-1.0 showed that they were chondroitin sulfate (CS)/dermatan sulfate (DS) hybrid chains with molecular weights of 109.3 kDa and 123.1 kDa, respectively. They were mainly composed of the repeating disaccharide unit of -{IdoA-α1,3-GalNAc4S-β1,4-}- (DS-A). The DS-B disaccharide unit of -{IdoA2S-α1,3-GalNAc4S-β1,4-}- also existed in both CMG-1.0 and GMG-1.0. CMG-1.0 had a higher proportion of CS-O disaccharide unit -{-GlcA-β1,3-GalNAc-β1,4-}- but a lower proportion of CS-E disaccharide unit -{-GlcA-β1,3-GalNAc4S6S-β1,4-}- than GMG-1.0. The disaccharide compositions of the GAGs varied in a species-specific manner. Anticoagulant activity assay revealed that both CMG-1.0 and GMG-1.0 had potent anticoagulant activity, which can significantly prolong activated partial thromboplastin time. GMG-1.0 also can prolong the thrombin time. CMG-1.0 showed no intrinsic tenase inhibition activity, while GMG-1.0 can obviously inhibit intrinsic tenase with EC50 of 58 nM. Their significantly different anticoagulant activities may be due to their different disaccharide structural units and proportions. These findings suggested that swim bladder by-products of fish processing of these two marine organisms may be used as a source of anticoagulants.
Keywords: CS/DS hybrid chain; anticoagulant activity; glycosaminoglycan; structure; swim bladder.