NMR spectral analysis of a water-insoluble (1 → 3)-β-d-glucan isolated from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

✍ Scribed by Harry E. Ensley; Brian Tobias; Henry A. Pretus; Rose B. McNamee; Ernest L. Jones; I. William Browder; David L. Williams

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 296 KB
• Volume: 258
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-6215
• DOI: 10.1016/0008-6215(94)84098-9

✦ Synopsis

A (1 + 3)_/3-Linked poly-D-glucose immune stimulant is isolated from the inner cell wall of Succ~aromyc~ cerevhiae [1,21 and belongs to the class of drugs known as biological response modifiers (BRMs). This polysaccharide exerts a beneficial effect on a variety of experimentally induced disease states, and its biological effects continue to receive significant attention [3-101.

Upon initial isolation from S. cereuisiae, the (1 -+ 3)-/3-glucan is a water-insoluble microparticulate [ll]. A major obstacle to the clinical utilization of the p-glucan is its relative lack of solubility in aqueous media. Recently, our laboratory group has succeeded in developing a methodology for the conversion of water-insoluble yeast /3-glucan to a nontoxic, water-soluble, immunologically active pharmaceutical form [11,12].

Another impediment to the understanding and development of (1 + 3)+glucan based pharmaceuticals is the often incomplete chemical characterization of glucan polysaceharides isolated from natural sources. Since the substitution pattern of the isolated glucan can vary depending on both the strain of S. cerezCze used and on the isolation methodology, careful characterization of the isolated material is necessary in order to ensure consistency. To address this problem we undertook studies to characterize the water-insoluble glucan polysaccharide that is employed as the starting material for the production of pharmaceutical grade (1 + 3)-/3glucan. Herein, we report the NMR spectral characterization and structure determination of glucan isolated from S. cerevisdae.