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Updated: Feb 16, 2026

Detection of Glycosaminoglycans by Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis and Silver Staining
Published on: February 25, 2021
Structural analysis and biological activity of a highly regular glycosaminoglycan from Achatina fulica
Jie Liu1, Lutan Zhou2, Zhicheng He2
1State Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Plant Resources in West China, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China; School of Pharmacy, Yunnan University of TCM, Kunming 650500, China.
Abstract:
Edible snails have been widely used as a health food and medicine in many countries. A unique glycosaminoglycan (AF-GAG) was purified from Achatina fulica. Its structure was analyzed and characterized by chemical and instrumental methods, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, analysis of monosaccharide composition, and 1D/2D nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Chemical composition analysis indicated that AF-GAG is composed of iduronic acid (IdoA) and N-acetyl-glucosamine (GlcNAc) and its average molecular weight is 118kDa. Structural analysis clarified that the uronic acid unit in glycosaminoglycan (GAG) is the fully epimerized and the sequence of AF-GAG is →4)-α-GlcNAc (1→4)-α-IdoA2S (1→. Although its structure with a uniform repeating disaccharide is similar to those of heparin and heparan sulfate, this GAG is structurally highly regular and homogeneous. Anticoagulant activity assays indicated that AF-GAG exhibits no anticoagulant activities, but considering its structural characteristic, other bioactivities such as heparanase inhibition may be worthy of further study.
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