• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.503-511
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• 2008

An edible marine red alga, Grateloupia filicina, collected from Jeju Island of Korea was hydrolyzed by cheap food-grade carbohydrases (Viscozyme, Celuclast, AMC, Termamyl, and Ultraflo) to investigate its anticoagulant activity. Among the tested enzymatic extracts of G. filicina, a Termamyl extract showed the highest anticoagulant activity. Anion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and gel-permeation chromatography on Sepharose-4B were used to purify the active polysaccharide from the crude polysaccharide fraction of G. filicina. The purified sulfated polysaccharide (0.42 sulfate/total sugar) showed ${\sim}1,357kDa$ molecular mass and was comprised mainly of galactose(98%) and 1-2% of glucose. The sample showed potential anticoagulant activity on activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) thrombin time (TT) assays. The purified G. filicina anticoagulant (GFA) inhibited the coagulation factor X (92%), factor II (82%), and factor VII (68%) of the coagulation cascade, and the molecular interaction (protein-polysaccharide) was highly enhanced in the presence of ATIII (antithrombin III). The dissociation constant of polysaccharide towards serine proteins decreased in the order of FXa (58.9 nM) >FIIa (74.6 nM) >FVII (109.3 nM). The low/less cytotoxicity of the polysaccharide benefits its use in the pharmaceutical industry; however, further studies that would help us to elucidate the mechanism of its activity are needed.