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Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Engineering Antiviral Agents via Surface Plasmon Resonance
Published on: June 14, 2022
Polysaccharides from Sargassum tenerrimum: structural features, chemical modification and anti-viral activity
Sharmistha Sinha1, Akram Astani, Tuhin Ghosh
1Natural Products Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, The University of Burdwan, West Bengal 713104, India.
Abstract:
Herpes simplex viruses (HSVs) display affinity for cell-surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans with biological relevance in virus entry. Here, we exploit an approach to inhibiting HSV infection by using a sulfated fucoidan, and a guluronic acid-rich alginate derived from Sargassum tenerrimum, mimicking the active domain of the entry receptor. These macromolecules have apparent molecular masses of 30+/-5 and 26+/-5 kDa, respectively. They and their chemically sulfated derivatives showed activity against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Their inhibitory concentration 50% (IC(50)) values were in the range 0.5-15 microg/ml and they lacked cytotoxicity at concentrations up to 1000 microg/ml. The anti-HSV activity increased with increasing sulfate ester content. Our results suggest the feasibility of inhibiting HSV infection by blocking viral entry with polysaccharide having specific structure.
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