Activation of Fibroblast Growth Factors by Sulfated Carboxymethylchitin

Yasumasa MORITA, Megumi KUNNOU† and Kenichi HATANAKA*†,††

Stanley Electric Co. Ltd; 2-9-13 Nakameguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8636 Japan
† Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology; 4529 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama-shi 226-8501 Japan
†† Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo; 7-22-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-8558 Japan

Effects of carboxymethylchitin (CM-chitin) and sulfated carboxymethylchitin (SCM-chitin) on the mitogenic activity of acidic- and basic-fibroblast growth factors (FGF-1, FGF-2) were investigated. CM-chitin showed proliferative activity without FGF, while the activation of FGFs' mitogenic activity by CM-chitin was not observed. On the other hand, SCM-chitin activated the mitogenic activity of FGFs and the activity was stimulated with a smaller dose of SCM-chitin when the degree of sulfatation was high. It was estimated that SCM-chitins did not show the cytotoxicity probably because of the carboxymethyl groups. In addition, carboxylated polysaccharide with a low degree of sulfation activated FGF, indicating that carboxyl groups contributed to the interaction between the polysaccharide and FGFs.


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