Taxonomic group: fungi / Blastocladiomycota, Ascomycota, Ascomycota, Ascomycota, Mucoromycota, Mucoromycota, Mucoromycota, Mucoromycota, Mucoromycota, Mucoromycota
(Phylum: Blastocladiomycota, Ascomycota, Ascomycota, Ascomycota, Mucoromycota, Mucoromycota, Mucoromycota, Mucoromycota, Mucoromycota, Mucoromycota)
Publication DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4614-9590-1_17Publisher: Springer-Verlag, New York
Editors: Kim SK
Correspondence: Kim SK <sknkim
pknu.ac.kr>
Institutions: Specialized Graduate School Science and Technology Convergence, Pukyong National University, Busan, Korea, Specialized Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, Department of Marine-bio Convergence Science, Marine Bioprocess Research Center Pukyong National University, Busan, Korea
Chitin is a linear polysaccharide consisting of β-(1-4)-N-acetyl D-glucosamine residues. It is widely distributed in nature and is the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature after cellulose. It may be regarded as cellulose with hydroxyl at position C-2 replaced by an acetamino group. Chitin is a white, hard, inelastic, nitrogenous polysaccharide found in the cell walls of bacteria and fungi, mushrooms, exoskeletons of crustaceans and insects, the microfilarial sheath of parasitic nematodes, and the lining of the digestive tracts of many insects. These organisms use chitin to protect the invader from the harsh conditions inside the animal or plant host (Elias et al. 2005). It can be degraded by chitinase. Chitin is highly hydrophobic and it is insoluble in water and most organic solvents. It exists mainly in two forms: α-chitin and β-chitin. α-chitin consists of sheets of tightly packed alternating parallel and antiparallel chains (Minke and Blackwell 1978). Meanwhile, β-chitin is arranged in parallel (Gardner and Blackwell 1975), which occurs less frequently in nature than α-chitin. Being non-toxic and environmentally safe, chitin has become of great interest not only as a utilized resource, but also as a new functional biomaterial of high potential in many fields, such as medical, agricultural, and cosmetic applications. It is readily obtained for commercial use from crustacean shell waste products generated by the seafood industry (Kurita 2006; Shahidi and Synowiecki 1991; Ravi Kumar 2000; Pillai et al. 2009). Chitosan, a partially deacetylated polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, is produced commercially by the deacetylation of chitin (Aranaz et al. 2009; Dutta et al. 2004). During the past several decades, chitosan has received considerable attention due to its biodegradable, non-toxic, and non-allergenic properties, which made it possible to be used in many fields, including food, cosmetics, biomedicine, agriculture, and environmental protection (Shahidi et al. 1999; Kim and Rajapaksea 2005). Recent studies have focused on the conversion of chitosan to chitooligosaccharides (COS), since COS are not only water-soluble (Yang et al. 2010) and possess higher oral absorption (Chae et al. 2005), but they also have various biological effects, including antimicrobial, antitumor, anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-angiotensin I-converting enzyme activities (Kim and Rajapaksea 2005; Park and Kim 2010; Xia et al. 2011). Especially, chitin and its derivatives have been determined to be therapeutic agents against allergic diseases (Catalli and Kulka 2010).
chitin
Structure type: homopolymer
Location inside paper: p.361
Trivial name: chitin, chitosan
Compound class: O-polysaccharide, cell wall polysaccharide, glucan, polysaccharide
Contained glycoepitopes: IEDB_135813,IEDB_137340,IEDB_141807,IEDB_151531,IEDB_153212,IEDB_241099,IEDB_423114,IEDB_423150,SB_74,SB_85
Biological activity: activated alveolar macrophages to express cytokines such as IL-12, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and IL-18, leading to INF-γ production, mainly by NK cells; stimulates macrophages by interacting with different cell surface receptors such as macrophage mannose receptor, toll-like receptor 2 (TLR-2), C-type lectin receptor Dectin-1, and leukotriene 134 receptor (BLT1); chitin has been shown to be an immunomodulator of allergic reaction via increase in Th1 cytokine production and decrease in Th2 cytokine production, and, thus, suppressing the generation of serum IgE in vivo
Related record ID(s): 41561, 46570, 50301, 50303, 50304, 50307, 50308, 50310, 50311, 50314, 50315, 50317, 50319, 50320
NCBI Taxonomy refs (TaxIDs): 28581,
5052,
5073,
5506,
4830,
4842,
64498,
101141,
91642,
4836Reference(s) to other database(s): GTC:G97099AY
Show glycosyltransferases
There is only one chemically distinct structure:
Found 
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