STRUCTURE FUNCTION RELATIONSHIPS IN POLYSACCHARIDES AND POLYSACCHARIDE-BLENDS

University Of Chicago, Chicago IL

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Abstract

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Polysaccharides comprise a distinct class of biopolymers. They form major structural components of the walls of marine crustaceans, plants, algae and microorganisms. They have extensive group of different chemical structures and exhibit a wide variety of unique molecular structures leading to sheets and spirals of single, double and triple helices. They constitute a large source of renewable resources offering a wide variety of beneficial functionalities to mankind, especially in the domain of biomaterials for tissue engineering, drug vehicles, and controlled release of nutraceuticals, to name a few. In particular their special properties such as renewability, biodegrability and biological activity spawn the development of novel applications. Many of these polysaccharides are water soluble and are capable of significantly altering the rheology of aqueous based solutions such as texture, thickening, gelling, viscosity, emulsifying, hydrating and physical stability of food dispersions, and find a gamut of food, cosmetic, biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. The current proposal is about determining the molecular architecture of a number of biologically important and industrially useful polysaccharides and polysaccharide-blends and their interactions with solvent and solute molecules. The study includes polysaccharides such as iota-carrageenan, kappa-carrageenan, lambda carrageenan, cepacian, galactoglucomannan, corn arabinoxylan and psyllium, and binary systems such as acetan:glucomannan, xanthan:glucomannan, xanthan:galactomanna, corn arabinoxylan:galactomannan,iota-carrageenan:galactomannan and kappa-carrageenan-galactomannan. In order to gain knowledge about the intrinsic interactions between the small molecules with the polysaccharide backbone, our second aim is centered on structural characterization of several polymeric cocrystals utilizing FDA approved food polysaccharides combined with small drug molecules as well as nutraceuticals.