Marine-Derived Exopolysaccharides to Mimic Glycosaminoglycans

Dear Colleagues,

In the biotechnological challenge for the discovery of original biomolecules, microorganisms from marine ecosystems are a highly valuable bio-resource. In particular, microbial polysaccharides offer a source of safe, biocompatible, biodegradable and valuable renewable products with specific biological functions emphasized by a significant structural diversity. Acidic and/or sulfated heteropolysaccharides found in various organisms have diverse biological functions in the tissues from which they originate, especially in the cellular physiology. The therapeutic potential of natural polysaccharides such as glycosaminoglycans or GAGs is now well documented. Marine-derived polysaccharides and their oligosaccharidic derivatives have been described for a variety of biological activities such as antithrombotic, antitumor, antiviral, antioxidant, immunomodulatory effects. Marine microorganisms can offer a large variety of GAG-like molecules that could be a good alternative to the use of both mammalian GAGs and other traditional marine polysaccharides and could allow the development of a new generation of therapeutics. Marine microbial polysaccharides or exopolysaccharides (EPS) present original structural features that can be modified to design derivatives with targeted properties and improve their specificity. In this Special Issue of Microorganisms, we invite you to send contributions concerning any aspect related with the search and/or production of bioactive derivatives from marine EPS including microbial marine biodiversity, structures of the produced polysaccharides, some molecular aspects of their biosynthesis, as well as some of their applications driven by their features, optimization of their production, and biological properties with a focus on the discovery of novel fine chemicals and biopharmaceuticals.

Dr. Sylvia Colliec-Jouault
Dr. Agata Zykwinska
Guest Editors

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