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Journal Article
Pandeirada, Carolina O., Élia Maricato, Sónia S. Ferreira, Viviana G. Correia, Benedita A. Pinheiro, Dmitry V. Evtuguin, Angelina S. Palma, Alexandra Correia, Manuel Vilanova, Manuel A. Coimbra, and Cláudia Nunes. "{Structural analysis and potential immunostimulatory activity of Nannochloropsis oculata polysaccharides.}." Carbohydrate polymers. 222 (2019): 114962. Abstract

The relevance of microalgae biotechnology for producing high-value compounds with biomedical application, such as polysaccharides, has been increasing. Despite this, the knowledge about the composition and structure of microalgae polysaccharides is still scarce. In this work, water-soluble polysaccharides from Nannochloropsis oculata were extracted, fractionated, structurally analysed, and subsequently tested in terms of immunostimulatory activity. A combination of sugar and methylation analysis with interaction data of carbohydrate-binding proteins using carbohydrate microarrays disclosed the complex structural features of the different polysaccharides. These analyses showed that the water-soluble polysaccharides fractions from N. oculata were rich in ($\beta$1→3, $\beta$1→4)-glucans, ($\alpha$1→3)-, ($\alpha$1→4)-mannans, and anionic sulphated heterorhamnans. The immunostimulatory assay highlighted that these fractions could also stimulate murine B-lymphocytes. Thus, the N. oculata water-soluble polysaccharides show potential to be further explored for immune-mediated biomedical applications.