Seaweed extracts have recently been found to have biological activities including effects on the immune system, anticoagulant system, cancer, etc. Capsosiphon fulvescens is a green alga that is widely distributed in the Southern coastal area of Korea....
Seaweed extracts have recently been found to have biological activities including effects on the immune system, anticoagulant system, cancer, etc. Capsosiphon fulvescens is a green alga that is widely distributed in the Southern coastal area of Korea. Crude polysaccharides were obtained from this seaweed collected at a coastal area of Wando, Korea, mainly by dilute acid extraction, ethanol precipitation and CaCl2 precipitation. It was further purified by DEAE-cellulose column chromatography and its chemical composition, structural analysis, immunostimulating activity, anticoagulation activity, anticancer activity and osteogenesis was determined. From HPLC analysis molecular mass of this polysaccharide was determined to be approximately 385 kDa. Elemental analysis of CPS, The estimation of only four elements, that is carbon(31.9398% w/w), hydrogen(4.9022% w/w), nitrogen(0.6318% w/w) and sulfur(6.2166% w/w), was undertaken. CPS stimulated the production of TNF-α to a level 80 times greater than the normal. Also CPS induced IL-6 secretion from RAW264.7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, Cf–PS treatment increased the expressions of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and the inducible form of nitric oxide (iNOS). The CPS could significantly increase anticoagulant activity, which was especially characterized by activated partial thrombloplastin time (APTT) and thrombloplatin time (TT). Two hundred ug/ml of CPS delayed the APTT up to 61 s. And TT of CPS reached up to 32 s. MTT assay showed that the CPS significantly inhibited the proliferation of cultured human MKN-45 gastric cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. Also nitrite plays an important role in the formation of carcinogenic nitrosamine. One percentage of CPS eliminated the nitrite up to approximately 50%. CPS plays a role for osteoblastic bone metastasis by promoting both osteoblasts proliferation and apoptosis of osteoclasts. One mg/ml of CPS increased the osteoblast cell growth up to approximately 150% and decreased the osteoclast cell growth up to approximately 60% by induction of apoptosis.