| In search of new bioactive compounds, marine bacteria constitute a considerable source of innovative molecules. The bacterial exopolysaccharide (EPS), produced by the deep-sea hydrothermal vent strain Alteromonas infernus, is a high-molecular-weight, highly branched and anionic heteropolysaccharide with a nonasaccharide repeating unit. This macromolecule and its low-molecular-weight derivatives obtained through a chemical process have previously displayed interesting GAG-like properties such as anti-metastatic and anti-coagulant (heparin-like) ones; they can also improve stem cell differentiation. To investigate the molecular bases of the biological activity and to facilitate the structural analysis of the bioactive derivatives (~20 000 g/mol), fragments... |
