Fucoidan

Blood anticoagulant activity like heparin [1,4], and antimetastatic activity. The correlation between the anticoagulant activity of fucoidan and its antimetastatic activity is not clear [4]. Fucoidan containing galactose, glucose, mannose, xylose, uronic acid and glucosamine, show little or no anticoagulant activity. The activity increases with sulfate content and decreases with increasing uronic acid [5].

A low molecular weight fraction of fucoidan from Assophyllum nodosum (Mw = 3090) with anticoagulant activity consists chiefly of oligomers of 8-14 fucose residues with a regular repeating disaccharide structure: [(→3)-α-L-fuc(2SO₃^-)-(1→4)-α-L-fuc(2,3diSO₃^-)-(1→)]. As the oligosaccharide has anticoagulant activity in vitro, it has been suggested that the activity is due to the regular structure [8].

Fucoidan (10,000 < Mw < 30,000) increases the expression of surface intergrin α2β1. The activity indreases with increasing molecular weight [2].

Potent inhibitor of the binding of AOL (a lectin) to sulfatide (sulfate-ester containing glycolipid) [3].

Antiprofilerative effect, dependig on sulfate content [4].

Antitumor effect on certain types of tumor cells in vivo and in vitro [4].

Fucoidan can inhibit the binding of heparin and neutrophiles to the heparin-binding protein GMP-140 [7].