CALCIUM SPIRULAN, AN INHIBITOR OF ENVELOPED VIRUS-REPLICATION, FROM ABLUE-GREEN-ALGA SPIRULINA-PLATENSIS

Bioactivity-directed fractionation of a hot H2O extract from a blue-gr een alga Spirulina platensis led to the isolation of a novel sulfated polysaccharide named calcium spirulan (Ca-SP) as an antiviral principl e. This polysaccharide was composed of rhamnose, ribose, mannose, fruc tose, galactose, xylose, glucose, glucuronic acid, galacturonic acid, sulfate, and calcium. Ca-SP was found to inhibit the replication of se veral enveloped viruses, including Herpes simplex virus type 1, human cytomegalovirus, measles virus, mumps virus, influenza A virus, and HI V-1. It was revealed that Ca-SP selectively inhibited the penetration of virus into host cells. Retention of molecular conformation by chela tion of calcium ion with sulfate groups was suggested to be indispensa ble to its antiviral effect.