Overview of β-Glucans from Laminaria spp.: Immunomodulation Properties and Applications on Biologic Models

Abstract

Glucans are a group of glucose polymers that are found in bacteria, algae, fungi, and plants. While their properties are well known, their biochemical and solubility characteristics vary considerably, and glucans obtained from different sources can have different applications. Research has described the bioactivity of β-glucans extracted from the algae of the Laminaria genus, including in vivo and in vitro studies assessing pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, vaccine production, inhibition of cell proliferation, and anti- and pro-oxidant activity. Thus, the objective of this article was to review the potential application of β-glucans from Laminaria spp. in terms of their immunomodulatory properties, microorganism host interaction, anti-cancer activity and vaccine development.

Hydrothermal Processing of Laminaria ochroleuca for the Production of Crude Extracts Used to Formulate Polymeric Nanoparticles

“…Data values represent mean ± standard deviation (n ≥ 3); columns with different superscript letters are significantly different at the p ≤ 0.05 level. At the milder conditions the major monosaccharide was glucose (Table 2), which could come from laminarin, a low molecular weight polysaccharide composed of glucopyranosyl residues linked by β-1,3and β-1,4-d-glycosidic bonds or by β-1,6-d-branched β-1,3-d-glycosidic bonds, with high solubility in water [3]. With increasing severity, the extracts were progressively enriched in the monosaccharides from the fucoidan fraction.…”

“…Laminaria ochroleuca is an edible brown seaweed, also known as Kombu, with valuable nutrients such as proteins, minerals and unsaturated fatty acids [1], as well as bioactive phenolics such as phlorethols, fucophlorethols and fuhalols [2]. This seaweed further provides polysaccharides, including alginate, which is interesting for its gelling properties; laminarin, which shows immunomodulatory properties and apoptotic action in cancer cells [3]; and also fucoidans, which have increasing applications based on varied biological features [4].…”

Structural Features, Modification, and Functionalities of Beta-Glucan

“…Fungal β-glucans are made of straight β (1 → 3) glucan with short-branched chains connected through β (1→6) [29][30][31]. Bacterial β-glucans (e.g., those from Agribacterium biobaris) have straight and unbranched β (1 → 3)-D-glucan backbones [32], while seaweed β-glucans (such as those found in brown kelp, luminaria) are species-dependent and may contain straight chain β (1 → 3) residues or the straight chain backbone together with high levels of β (1 → 6) branches [6,12]. The chemical structures of β-glucan from different sources are shown in Figure 3.…”

“…B-glucan is a non-starch polysaccharide composed of β-D-glucose monomer units holding a glycosidic linkage at β (1→3), (1→4), and/or (1→6), either in a branched or in an unbranched manner [5]. A vast amount of literature asserts that the intake of β-glucan is associated with prebiotic effects and various beneficial health outcomes such as reduction in glycemic index and serum cholesterol; control of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and hypertension; immune-enhancing properties; antimicrobial (antibacterial, antiviral) properties; and wound healing activities, among others [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Consequently, research studies on β-glucan have continued to grow since the 1950s when studies on these biomolecules began to be published (see Figure 1).…”

Effects of ultrasonic treatment on the molecular weight and anti-inflammatory activity of oxidized konjac glucomannan

“…contain the β-glucan structure, and all of them have shown similar immunomodulatory effects. β-glucans exhibit strong immune-suppression (Bonfim-Mendonça, Capoci, Tobaldini-Valerio, Negri, & Svidzinski, 2017;Mantovani et al, 2008;Yan et al, 2018) that depends on their ability to induce or inhibit cytokines in macrophages or to regulate macrophage phagocytosis (Vannucci et al, 2013). The first step by which βglucans exert immune function effects is by their recognition by cells possessing pattern recognition receptors (PRRS), such as the β-receptor.…”