Fucoidans of brown algae: Biosynthesis, localization, and physiological role in thallus

Abstract

The issues of the structure and biosynthesis of fucose containing sulfated polysaccharides are considered in this review; the data on the localization of fucoidans in tissues and their significance for algae are provided. Fucoidans participate in the building of cell walls and the support of their structure, as well as in extrusion of spores and gametes from reproductive organs. Due to the sulfated groups, these polysaccha rides can bind cations (mainly K + , Na + , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ ) and participate in ion exchange with the environment, which facilitates adaptation of algae to water salinity fluctuations and to the toxic effects of heavy metals. Fucoidans play a substantial role in morphogenesis of zygotes of fucoid algae, as they participate in establish ing the cell polarity and fixing the cell division axis, thus determining the direction for the development of the rhizoidal and apical poles of young thalli.

Marine Algal Antioxidants as Potential Vectors for Controlling Viral Diseases

“…Fucans are high-molecular-weight sulfated polysaccharides, present in the intercellular tissues or mucilaginous matrix of brown algae [75]. Beside many bioactivities, such as antiproliferative, antiadhesive properties can protect the cells from viral infections [76].…”

Effects of Fucoidan and Chemotherapeutic Agent Combinations on Malignant and Non-malignant Breast Cell Lines

“…Thus, screening for natural products capable of inducing apoptosis in cancer cells that can be used collaterally with other cytotoxic drugs is of interest in order to elevate the therapeutic efficacy and reduce the side effects in cancer therapy. In this study, fucoidan (FUC), a natural polysaccharide composed of sulphated L-fucose residues extracted from marine brown algae http://etd.uwc.ac.za/ (Phaeophycophyta) and some echinoderms (sea urchin and sea cucumber) [7,10,13,17,20,21,61,62] was tested for its potential anticancer effects alone or in combination with cisplatin, doxorubicin and taxol against non-malignant MCF-12A breast epithelial cells and MCF-7 cancer cells.…”

“…A and B: One Way ANOVA, using Tukey's multiple comparisons test, indicated that the differences in the mean values among the treatment groups are greater than would be expected by chance, i.e., there is a statistically significant difference (p<0.001), except for treatments indicated in the text. [7,8,10,17,20,21,61,62,426,459,471,472,482,483,494,510,515,[517][518][519][520][521].…”

“…The marine environment contains several numbers of plants, animals and microorganisms which produce a wide diversity of natural products [4]. A polysaccharide known as fucoidan is extracted from marine brown algae and is known to consist largely of Lfucose and sulphate [5][6][7].…”

Pivotal Cytoprotective Mediators and Promising Therapeutic Strategies for Endothelial Progenitor Cell‐Based Cardiovascular Regeneration

“…Fucoidan, a marine sulfated polysaccharide, is mainly found in extracts from brown algae and brown seaweed [133]. Many researchers have studied the therapeutic effects of fucoidan on osteoarthritis [134], cancer [135], diabetes [124], obesity [136], and kidney [137] and liver disease [138].…”