Overview

Plant polysaccharides play an increasingly important role in pathology and pharmacology. CD BioGlyco provides advanced and comprehensive polysaccharide structure analysis services to meet customers' needs, and we have confidence to be your essential research assistant in the field of glycobiology.

Background

Polysaccharides generally refer to long-chain polymers formed by linking more than 10 monosaccharides through glycosidic bonds, which are widely present in plants, animals, and microorganisms (fungi and bacteria). Its structure usually contains straight or branched side chains, with molecular weight distribution in the range of tens of thousands to millions.

As an important active natural substance, plant polysaccharides have the advantage of few side effects. In recent years, a large number of studies have reported that plant-derived active polysaccharides have immunomodulatory, anti-tumor, anti-oxidation and hypoglycemic functions. Polysaccharides with multiple functional groups (hydroxyl, amino and carboxylic acid groups) can be further modified for biomedical applications, such as vaccine adjuvants, drug carriers, tissue engineering scaffolds, etc. Understanding the structure of plant polysaccharides will help elucidate its biological activity and discover new biological functions.

Nevertheless, plant polysaccharides are still a mystery to us. The structure of polysaccharides is usually very complex and requires extensive use of various chemical methods, instrumental analysis methods, and biological methods to determine it. The relationship between structure and activity is also unclear, making the research of plant polysaccharides even more challenging.

Key Technologies

Comprehensive architectural elucidation demands polyhedral interrogation. We orchestrate an ensemble of avant-garde instrumental techniques and vetted protocols to furnish meticulous, veracious portraits of polysaccharide specimens.

• Chromatographic & Mass Spectrometric Interrogation

Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) constitutes our analytical keystone. This conjoined methodology segregates and identifies saccharide constituents alongside their inter-residue connectivities. Our core strategy embodies "bottom-up glycomics": polysaccharides undergo deliberate depolymerization into characteristic oligomeric fragments—these serve as diagnostic fingerprinting features. Subsequent HPLC-QTOF MS profiling identifies these oligosaccharides, while tandem MS furnishes compositional dissection; chromatographic retention indices provide corroborative identification.

• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Structural authentication employs NMR spectrometric scrutiny. This modality illuminates monosaccharide sequencing, anomeric stereochemistry, and glycosidic bond architectures within polymeric chains. Though conventionally prohibitive for extensive screening, NMR remains indispensable for primary-structure validation of purified carbohydrate polymers.

• Chemical & Enzymatic Disassembly

Controlled fragmentation via nonenzymatic and enzymatic routes yields structurally defined oligomers. Our abiotic digestion protocol generates reproducible, heterogeneous oligosaccharide arrays. This bottom-up paradigm supersedes classical approaches by enabling multiplexed, high-throughput quantitative assessment of disparate polysaccharides concurrently.

Where Saccharides Meet Bioactivity: Structure Illuminated.

We have rich experience in polysaccharide structure identification, conformation analysis, and biological activity testing. Using these experiences, we can provide systematic plant polysaccharides separation services to ensure the in-depth study of active polysaccharides in the later stage, and to further explore the molecular basis and mechanism of plant polysaccharides.

We use the following methods to analzye plant polysaccharides structure.

Fig 1. Structural analysis of plant polysaccharides. (CD BioGlyco)

Workflow

Our structural analysis service follows a meticulous, multi-step process designed for precision and high-throughput capabilities.

• Sample Preparation and Depolymerization

Your polysaccharide sample undergoes a careful preparation process, including lyophilization and pulverization, before being subjected to our optimized depolymerization reaction using Fenton's reagent. This nonenzymatic chemical digestion generates a reproducible "fingerprint" of oligosaccharides characteristic of the parent polysaccharide.

• Chromatographic Separation

The resulting oligosaccharide mixture is separated using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). This step is critical for resolving the complex mixture into individual components based on their unique chemical properties.

• Mass Spectrometry (MS) Analysis

The separated oligosaccharides are then introduced into a high-resolution mass spectrometer for a comprehensive analysis. Our LC-MS/MS system provides both compositional information (MS/MS) and a quantitative measure based on peak areas, enabling us to identify and quantify the parent polysaccharides.

• Data Analysis and Structural Elucidation

Raw data from the MS is processed using our specialized software. By comparing the generated oligosaccharide profiles to our extensive fingerprint library, we can accurately identify and infer the structure of the polysaccharides in your sample.

Publication Data

Advantages

• Our unique bottom-up glycomics approach allows for the simultaneous identification and absolute quantitation of multiple polysaccharides in a single run. This is a significant improvement over traditional, low-throughput methods.
• Our method has been rigorously validated with commercially available polysaccharide standards, demonstrating high reproducibility and accuracy.
• We provide a holistic view of your sample's polysaccharide content, including a detailed compositional analysis and absolute concentration data, which is essential for establishing a clear link between structure and function.

Application

• Characterizing the polysaccharides in food matrices is crucial for understanding their impact on human health, especially their role in modulating the gut microbiome.
• The biological activities of polysaccharides, such as anti-tumor and immunomodulatory effects, are directly tied to their structure, making structural analysis a key step in drug development.
• Polysaccharides are used in the creation of biocompatible materials like hydrogels. Precise structural data is necessary for controlling material properties.

Frequently Asked Questions

Associated Services

Our structural analysis of plant polysaccharides service provides detailed characterization of complex carbohydrate architectures from botanical sources. To complement this macromolecular profiling, we offer specialized Oligosaccharide Analysis Services, including xylooligosaccharide profiling, fructooligosaccharide characterization, and galactooligosaccharide composition studies for targeted functional carbohydrate investigation.

CD BioGlyco has a lot of successful experience in the purification and structure analysis of polysaccharides, and our professional services have brought convenience to customers all over the world.

Customers can contact our employees directly and we will respond promptly. If you are interested in our services, please contact us for more detailed information.

Reference

1. Zhang, J.; et al. The separation, purification, structure identification, and antioxidant activity of Elaeagnus umbellata polysaccharides. Molecules. 2023, 28(18): 6468. (Open Access)