The Inhibition Effects Of Modified Chitin/Chitosan On The P-selectin-mediated Cells Adhesion

The selectins mediate the initial adhesion of leukocytes to the endothelia of blood vessels during inflammation. Recently accumulating evidences indicate that another biological process that may involve P-selectin is the adhesion of circulating tumor cells to platelets in cancer metastasis. Heparin can function as a ligand for P-selectin and can block P-selectin binding to its nature carbohydrate ligands. These studies suggest that the anti-metastasis and anti- inflammation effects of heparin are partially due to a blockade of P-selectin on platelets. However, heparin anticoagulant properties and the potential of bleeding complications may contraindicate its use.In this study, we prepared 5 chitin/chitosan derivatives by means of selective chemical modification. They are N-S-Chitosan, 6-S-Chitosan, N,6-S-Chitosan, N,3,6-S-Chitosan and 3,6-S-CM-Chitin.The inhibitory activity results show that N,6-S-Chitosan, N,3,6-S-Chitosan and 3,6-S-CM-Chitin exhibit excellent inhibitory ability to the binding of the cells adhesion under the static condition. However, the other derivatives exhibit little affects.This study is the first time to utilize natural abundant chitin/chitosan as the fundamental materials targeting to P-selectin. The results have provided a valuable experimental foundation for clinical trial of preventing P-selectin mediated cell adhesion.