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β-1,3-d-glucan lentinan/Poly-dA40 triple-helical complex in dilute solutions

Polymer Journal volume 56, pages 43–54 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Lentinan (Len) is a linear (1,3)-β-d-glucan with two of its five main-chain glucose-bearing (1,6)-β-d-glucan side chains. Like other β-d-glucans, Len is expected to form stoichiometric complexes with single-stranded homo-DNAs such as poly(dA). The poor water solubility of Len impeded accurate characterization of Len in solution and determination of its molecular weight. We found that Len was readily characterized in DMSO by using a DMSO/LiCl mobile phase in chromatography to give reasonable recovery and an accurate molecular weight. Conformational analysis in DMSO showed that Len adopted a swollen random coil structure, and the triple helix was dissociated. A series of Len-dA40 complexes were prepared with different mixing ratios, and there was almost no residual Len and dA40 when the molar ratio of the main chain glucose to the base was 2. This stoichiometric ratio was the same as those for other β-d-glucan/DNA complexes. A conformational analysis using light scattering and small-angle X-ray scattering showed that the complex took a semiflexible path without branching. One complex contained 4-20 DNA molecules.

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Acknowledgements

This work is financially supported by the JST NexTEP program (2014), and all SAXS measurements were carried out at SPring-8 BL-40B2.

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  1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Kitakyushu, Hibikino, Kitakyushu, 808-0135, Japan

    Takuya Matsunaga, Kazuki Sumiya, Motoko Tanaka, Shinichi Mochizuki & Kazuo Sakurai

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  1. Takuya Matsunaga
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  2. Kazuki Sumiya
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Correspondence to Kazuo Sakurai.

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Matsunaga, T., Sumiya, K., Tanaka, M. et al. β-1,3-d-glucan lentinan/Poly-dA40 triple-helical complex in dilute solutions. Polym J 56, 43–54 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-023-00839-9

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