In Vitro Immunostimulating Activity of Sulfated Polysaccharides from <i>Caulerpa cupressoides</i> Var. <i>Flabellata</i>
Jefferson da Silva Barbosa,
Mariana Santana Santos Pereira Costa,
Luciana Fentanes Moura de Melo,
Mayara Jane Campos de Medeiros,
Daniel de Lima Pontes,
Katia Castanho Scortecci,
Hugo Alexandre Oliveira Rocha
Affiliations
Jefferson da Silva Barbosa
Laboratório de Biotecnologia de Polímeros Naturais (BIOPOL), Departamento de Bioquímica, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte 59078-970, Brazil
Mariana Santana Santos Pereira Costa
Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN), João Câmara, Rio Grande do Norte 59550-000, Brazil
Luciana Fentanes Moura de Melo
Laboratório de Biotecnologia de Polímeros Naturais (BIOPOL), Departamento de Bioquímica, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte 59078-970, Brazil
Mayara Jane Campos de Medeiros
Laboratório de Química de Coordenação e Polímeros (LQCPol), Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte 59078-970, Brazil
Daniel de Lima Pontes
Laboratório de Química de Coordenação e Polímeros (LQCPol), Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte 59078-970, Brazil
Katia Castanho Scortecci
Laboratório de Transformação de Plantas e Análise em Microscopia, Departamento de Biologia Celular e Genética, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte 59078-970, Brazil
Hugo Alexandre Oliveira Rocha
Laboratório de Biotecnologia de Polímeros Naturais (BIOPOL), Departamento de Bioquímica, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte 59078-970, Brazil
Green seaweeds are rich sources of sulfated polysaccharides (SPs) with potential biomedical and nutraceutical applications. The aim of this work was to evaluate the immunostimulatory activity of SPs from the seaweed, Caulerpa cupressoides var. flabellata on murine RAW 264.7 macrophages. SPs were evaluated for their ability to modify cell viability and to stimulate the production of inflammatory mediators, such as nitric oxide (NO), intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), and cytokines. Additionally, their effect on inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) gene expression was investigated. The results showed that SPs were not cytotoxic and were able to increase in the production of NO, ROS and the cytokines, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6). It was also observed that treatment with SPs increased iNOS and COX-2 gene expression. Together, these results indicate that C. cupressoides var. flabellata SPs have strong immunostimulatory activity, with potential biomedical applications.
