Physico-Chemical Characterization and Pharmacological Activities of Marine Sulfated Polysaccharide
A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2021) | Viewed by 3569
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The International Union of Biochemistry (IUMB) defined polysaccharides as macromolecules comprising several monosaccharide residues joined by glycosidic linkages. One of the most abundant substances in marine organisms, polysaccharides exist in a wide range of structures that exhibit equally varied biological functions and properties. Marine algal and bacterial polysaccharides contain sulfate moieties that are absent from terrestrial plants. These sulfate groups confer on the polysaccharides unique antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunostimulatory, anticoagulant and anti-cancer properties that render them pharmacologically relevant.
The search for novel polysaccharides of natural origin has led to the development of methods to exploit sulfated polysaccharides, mainly from marine environments. Owing to their novel properties and unique pharmacological benefits, marine sulfated polysaccharides are currently utilized in functional foods and cosmetics, but their potential in the pharmaceutical industry has yet to be realized.
The complexity and diversity of structures exhibited by sulfated polysaccharides suggests that much work remains to be done before we will fully understand their structural characteristics and their rheological and biological properties. An in-depth understanding of their physicochemical structures and characteristics and the unraveling of the corresponding structure–function relationships will enable us to fully exploit this untapped resource and to obtain improved bioactivity for new applications.
Prof. Dr. Shoshana Arad
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Marine Drugs is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- Marine organisms
- Sulfated polysaccharide
- Sulfation
- Physicochemical characterization.
