A-Carrageenan

A,-Carrageenan [9064-57-7, 9000-07-1 (k+ little of 2.)]. This D-galactose-anhydro-D or L-galactoside polysaccharide is ppted from 4g of Carrageenan in 600mL of water containing 12g of KOAc by addn of EtOH. The fraction taken, ppted between 30 and 45% (v/v) EtOH. [Pal and Schubert JAm Chem Soc 84 4384 1962.]... 

O Neill (30) has shown that carrageenan is a mixture of at least five different polysaccharides. The two main components are x-carrageenan, which consists of sulfated n-galactose and 3,6-anhydro-n-galactose residues in a 1.2 (or 1.4) to 1 ratio, and A-carrageenan, which is almost entirely made up of a-... 

Apparently, A-carrageenan is not a simple structure and must have some irregularity in the distribution of its sulfate groups. Also, an occasional side residue may be present. There are still unexplained points about the x-ray spectra of A-carrageenan. 

A.L. Crumbliss, J.Z. Stonehuerner, R.W. Henkens, J. Zhao, and J.P. O Daly, A carrageenan hydrogel stabilized colloidal gold multi-enzyme biosensor electrode utilizing immobilized horseradish peroxidase and cholesterol oxidase/cholesterol esterase to detect cholesterol in serum and whole blood. Biosens. Bioelectron. 8, 331-337 (1993). 

Fig. 1. Capsule permeability as measured by the inverse GPC method. Capsules were made from 1.25% A-carrageenan (Fluka) and 0.02% carboxymethylcellulose (Aqualon) in 0.9% sodium chloride (core polymers) and 2% polydimethylamine-co-epichlorohydrin modified, quater-nized (Scientific Polymer Products) and a quaternary amine (Agefloc B50, CPS) in PBS (receiving bath) using a 3 min reaction time. The capsules were subsequently washed with PBS, coated for 15 min with 0.1% LV alginate (Kelco) and again washed in PBS. Two molecular size dex-trans were used to probe the capsule permeability. 170 kD dextran is almost totally excluded while the lower molar mass polymers permeated the membrane to varying extents...

Pujol CA, Scolaro LA, Ciancia M, Matulewicz MC, Cerezo AS, Damonte EB (2006) Antiviral activity of a carrageenan from Gigartina skottsbergii against intraperitoneal murine Herpes simplex virus infection. Planta Med 72 121-125... 

GM Beck, SH Neau. A-carrageenan A novel chiral selector for capillary electrophoresis. Chirality 8 503-510, 1996. 

GM Beck, SH Neau. Optimization of A-carrageenan as chiral selector in capillary electrophoretic separations. Chirality 12 614-620, 2000. 

Model building in the computer is used to analyze the conformational effects of steric interactions between atoms of the polymer skeleton for x-carrageenan, t-carrageenan, A-carrageenan, agar, chondroltin, chondroitin sulfates, dermatan sulfate, keratan sulfate, hyaluronic acid, and related polysaccharides. Over 99% of the conformations are thus excluded and virtually all of the remainder for each polysaccharide lie close together. Predictions are also made from disaccharide crystal structures and checked against experimental results. 

In combination with galactomannans, x-carrageenan shows an unusual synergism, which is marked by an enhancement of the gel strength. This phenomenon is believed to be due to a carrageenan-galactomannan interaction. 

Acid buffer system Benzalkonium chloride Polyacrylic acid (Carbopol 974) C2F5, C2G12, C4E10 Calanolide A Carrageenan... 

Primary screening data correlated with the in vivo results. Four selected hits, when tested on a carrageenan induced rat paw edema model of acute inflammation and were bioavailable and pharmacologically active, reducing swelling of the paw (data not shown here). The efficacies of the extracts were measured by calculating the reduction in swelling as compared to the vehicle-treated control. Aspirin was used as a positive control for anti-inflammatory activity. These observations validated the potential use of the hits discovered in the RT-PCR assay for the in vivo anti-inflammatory applications. 

I Takata, K Kayashima, T Tosa, I Chibata. Improvement of stability of fumarase activity of Brevibacterium flavum by immobilization with A>carrageenan. J Ferment Technol 60 431-437, 1982. 

Taking into account the above considerations, the SPs were suggested to be ideal microbicides for topical use [105]. A number of potential candidate microbicides have been shown to inhibit virus attachment, fusion, and entry into host target cells for sexually transmitted infections. These include cellulose sulfate, poly(styrene 4-sulfonate), polystyrene sulfonate, polymethylene-hydroquinone sulfonate, naphthalene sulfonate polymer, and a carrageenan derived from seaweed (Carraguard) that may prevent viral entry. Several candidate compounds have already progressed to various stages of clinical trials [106]. Currently, some of them have been formulated and are in phase II/III clinical trials. 

The anti-inflammatory activity of experimental agents was determined using the method of Vinegar (1) using a carrageenan dose of 0.075 mg/rat and harvesting pleural exudate 4 hours afterwards. Testing results are provided in Table 2. 

V. DiNinno, E. L. McCandless, and R. A. Bell, Pyruvic acid derivative of a carrageenan from a marine red algae (Petrocelis species), Carbohydr. Res., 71 (1979) Cl—C4. 

D. Slootmaekers, J. A. P. P. Dijk, F. A. Varkevisser, C. J. Bloys van Treslong, and H. Reynaers, Molecular characterization of k- and A-carrageenan by gel permeation chromatography, light scattering, sedimentation analysis and osmometry, Biophys. Chem., 41 (1991) 51-59. 

G. Zhou, H. Xin, W. Sheng, S. Yueping, Z. Li, and Z. Xu, In vivo growth-inhibition of SI80 tumor by mixture of 5-Fu and low molecular weight A-carrageenan from Chondrus ocellatus, Pharm. Res., 51 (2005) 153-157. 

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