• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.2 s.69
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• pp.287-292
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• 2005

The crude galactomannans (GMs) were obtained from the culture of a newly isolated fungus Trichoderma erinaceum DG-312 and their anti-inflammatory activity was investigated in mice. The maximum concentrations of mycelial biomass and GMs reached 9.44 g/l, 2.72 g/l at day 3 in a 5-l stirred-tank bioreactor, respectively. The results of Sepharose CL-6B gel chromatography and compositional analysis revealed that the crude GMs contain heterogeneous polysaccharides consisting of $74.9\%$ mannose and $24.1\%$ galactose. The GMs was shown to possess a significant anti-inflammatory activity against acetic acid-induced inflammatory mouse model in a dose-dependent manner, when mice were treated with 100 and 200 mg GMs/kg body weight. The inhibition in vascular permeability $(60.6\%)$ and in writhing response $(62.5\%)$ evidenced an anti-inflammatory activity of the GMs. The marked anti-inflammatory and writhing-lowering properties of the GMs suggest its potential therapeutic use.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1250-1257
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• 2005

Two groups of exopolysaccharides (designated as Fr-I EPS and Fr-II EPS) were isolated from the culture filtrate of new fungal strain Trichoderma erinaceum DG-312 by Sepharose CL-6B chromatography. The structures of the exopolysaccharides were investigated using gas chromatography (GC), Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, GCMS analysis, and NMR. GC analysis indicated that Fr-I EPS was composed of mainly mannose ($78.9\%$) and galactose ($21.1\%$), whereas Fr-II EPS contained mannose ($68.4\%$), galactose ($26.2\%$), and glucose ($5.4\%$). In the anomeric region ($950-700cm_{-1}$) of the FT-IR spectrum, both EPSs exhibited obvious characteristic absorption of $810\;cm_{-1}$, indicating the existence of mannose. The spectra of $\alpha-and\;\beta$-configurations were assigned at 880 and $914\;cm_{-1}$, respectively. The results of GC-MS analyses confirmed that both EPSs were complex heteropolysaccharides with a ($1{\rightarrow}3$)-linked mannan backbone. The C-1 region that appeared in the $^{13}C-NMR$ spectra of these EPSs indicated a typical anomeric carbon signal. The Fr-I EPS showed two anomeric carbon signals at 102.6 and 99.6 ppm, whereas the Fr-II EPS displayed four anomeric carbon signals at 102.5, 99.6, 98.5, and 94.3 ppm. The molecular characteristics of the EPSs were further investigated using a size exclusion chromatography/multi-angle laser light scattering (SEC/MALLS) system. The SEC/MALLS system revealed that the average molar masses of the EPSs were $6.592{\times}10^{4}$ (Fr-I EPS) and $1.920{\times}10^{4}$ (Fr-II EPS) g/mol, and the molecular conformation of both EPSs in aqueous solution was random coils.