Gordonan, an Acidic Polysaccharide with Cell Aggregation-Inducing Activity in Insect BM-N4 Cells, Produced by Gordonia sp.

Abstract

An acidic polysaccharide, termed gordonan, was isolated from the culture medium of Gordonia sp. as an inducer of cell aggregation in an insect cell line, BM-N4. Gordonan had an average molecular weight of 5×106 and its structure was identified as →3)-4-O-(1-carboxyethyl)-β-D-Manp-(1→4)-β-D-GlcAp-(1→4)-β-D-Glcp-(1→ mainly by acid hydrolysis experiments and NMR analysis. It induces cell aggregation at the concentration of 4 μg/ml. A partially hydrolyzed polysaccharide derived from gordonan with a molecular weight of 5×105 showed weak activity, while any fragment molecules with lower molecular weights prepared from gordonan showed no activity. © 2000, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.