AUTHOR=Rodrigues Marcio , Nimrichter Leonardo , Cordero Radames , Casadevall Arturo 

TITLE=Fungal Polysaccharides: Biological Activity Beyond the Usual Structural Properties

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=2

YEAR=2011

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2011.00171

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2011.00171

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Studies on structure and function of polysaccharides in biological systems classically involve sequence and compositional analyses, anomeric configuration, type of glycosidic linkage, and presence of substituents. Recent studies, however, indicates that other structural parameters, so far little explored, can directly influence the biological activity of microbial polysaccharides. Among these parameters, we highlight the molecular dimensions of <italic>Cryptococcus neoformans</italic> polysaccharides, which appear to be inversely correlated with their immunobiological activity. These recent observations raise new concepts about the structure and function of polysaccharides, which stimulates the design of new experimental approaches and suggests previously unknown applications.</p>