Research progress of polysaccharide structure-activity relationship

The biological activities of polysaccharides are affected by a variety of factors such as monosaccharide composition, molecular weight, glycosidic bond type, branching degree, molecular conformation and functional groups, and are closely related to structural features. In order to clarify the structure of polysaccharides as much as possible, it is necessary to characterize and simulate the structure of polysaccharides based on primary structure characterization, and further describe or visualize the three-dimensional structure of polysaccharides. A large number of studies have shown that polysaccharides from different sources and structures participate in or directly exert their activities in the fields of anti-tumor, anti-oxidation, and immune regulation related to immunology, anticoagulation, hypoglycemia, lipid-lowering, anti-fatigue, and other activities. The structural modification/modification of polysaccharides provides the possibility to improve the activity, efficiency, or functional specificity of polysaccharides. Due to the diversity and complexity of the structure of polysaccharides, the structural prediction is not complete and of high accuracy, and the functional prediction is limited by the diversity of binding receptors, so the downstream pathways involved cannot be accurately located. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the comprehensive results from multiple perspectives in the study of the mechanism of exerting biological activity. Structural detection and analysis of polysaccharides are inextricably linked to the development of polysaccharide biological activities, which can be easily predicted through structural analysis and summarization of structural patterns.