Marine Sulfated Glycans with Serpin-Unrelated Anticoagulant Properties

• Published in: Advances in Clinical Chemistry Vol. 62; pp. 269 - 303
• Main Authors: Glauser, Bianca F., Mourão, Paulo A.S., Pomin, Vitor H.
• Format: Book Chapter Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Science & Technology 2013
• Subjects: Animals; Anticoagulant; Anticoagulants - chemistry; Anticoagulants - isolation & purification; Anticoagulants - pharmacology; Antithrombotic; Carbohydrate Sequence; Chondroitin Sulfates - chemistry; Chondroitin Sulfates - isolation & purification; Chondroitin Sulfates - pharmacology; Cysteine Endopeptidases - chemistry; Factor Xa - chemistry; Factor Xa Inhibitors; Fibrinolytic Agents - chemistry; Fibrinolytic Agents - isolation & purification; Fibrinolytic Agents - pharmacology; Fucosylated chondroitin sulfate; Galactans - chemistry; Humans; Marine drugs; Marine organisms; Molecular Sequence Data; Neoplasm Proteins - chemistry; Polysaccharides - chemistry; Polysaccharides - isolation & purification; Polysaccharides - pharmacology; Protein Binding; Rhodophyta - chemistry; Sea Cucumbers - chemistry; Sulfated galactan; Thrombin - antagonists & inhibitors; Thrombin - chemistry; Thromboplastin - chemistry; Thrombosis - prevention & control; Marine organisms; Marine drugs; Anticoagulant; Antithrombotic; Fucosylated chondroitin sulfate; Sulfated galactan
• ISBN: 0128000961; 9780128000960
• ISSN: 0065-2423; 2162-9471
• DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-800096-0.00007-X

Marine organisms are a rich source of sulfated polysaccharides with unique structures. Fucosylated chondroitin sulfate (FucCS) from the sea cucumber Ludwigothurea grisea and sulfated galactan from the red alga Botryocladia occidentalis are one of these unusual molecules. Besides their uncommon structures, they also exhibit high anticoagulant and antithrombotic effects. Earlier, it was considered that the anticoagulant activities of these two marine glycans were driven mainly by a catalytic serpin-dependent mechanism likewise the mammalian heparins. Its serpin-dependent anticoagulant action relies on promoting thrombin and/or factor Xa inhibition by their specific natural inhibitors (the serpins antithrombin and heparin cofactor II). However, as opposed to heparins, these two previously mentioned marine glycans were proved still capable in promoting coagulation inhibition using serpin-free plasmas. This puzzle observation was further investigated and clearly demonstrated that the cucumber FucCS and the red algal sulfated galactan have an unusual serpin-independent anticoagulant effect by inhibiting the formation of factor Xa and/or thrombin through the procoagulants tenase and prothrombinase complexes, respectively. These marine polysaccharides with unusual anticoagulant effects open clearly new perspectives for the development of new antithrombotic drugs as well as push the glycomics project.