Isolation, Purification, and Characterization of Poly-N-Acetyl Glucosamine Use as a Hemostatic Agent

Abstract

The p-GlcNAc fiber has a unique beta-tertiary structure.

Hemostatic properties of glucosamine‐based materials

“…5 N-acetyl glucosamine polymers occur in natural products such as chitin, which can be deacetylated chemically or enzymatically to produce glucosamine polymers referred to as chitosan. Chitosan, which is a chemically heterogeneous mixture of polymers with 10-20% N-acetyl residues and 80-90% glucosamine residues, 3 can also be extracted from crustacean exoskeletons and fungal mycelial mats. Chitin and chitosan are found in nature complexed with minerals and protein contaminants in a wide variety of microcrystalline forms.…”

“…22,23 However, medical product development with these materials has been hampered by the chemical and physical heterogeneity of the polymer products and contamination of preparations by proteins and other components. 3 Recently discovered nanofibers isolated from a marine microalgal source 3 consist of high molecular weigh (MW ¼ 2.8 Â 10 6 Da) linear polymers of fullyacetylated poly-N-acetyl glucosamine. The individual polymers in the fibers are tightly bound to one another by interchain hydrogen bonding in a parallel (b-structure) orientation.…”

“…A new polymeric fiber material, poly-N-acetyl glucosamine (p-GlcNAc), formulated as patches and lyophilized pads, has been shown to be effective in achieving hemostasis in surgical procedures and trauma. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] The p-GlcNAc fiber material is isolated and purified from large scale cultures of a marine microalga/diatom. 8 An investigation of the physical and chemical properties of the p-GlcNAc fibers was carried out to determine how they structurally and functionally differ from chitin, chitosan, and other N-acetyl glucosamine containing compounds.…”

“…P-GlcNAc fibers are generally longer than 100 lm 3 with 2-4 nm diameters, and consist of $80 polymer molecules per fiber. The bpGlcNAc fibers are isolated from microalgal cultures in a highly pure chemical form 3 with preservation of the native supramolecular structure. Microalgal pGlcNAc fibers are the single and unique component of several FDA cleared medical device products currently in the topical hemostasis market.…”

Chitosan Derivatives for Bioadhesive/Hemostatic Applications: Chemical and Biological Aspects

“…The p-GlcNAc is a fiber with a crystalline beta-form three-dimensional structure (Fischer et al, 2004;Vournakis et al, 2004). It is a purified N-acetylglucosamine produced by microalgae (Vournakis et al, 1997).…”