Sutherland I W
Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, Edinburgh University, UK.
Trends Biotechnol. 1998 Jan;16(1):41-6. doi: 10.1016/S0167-7799(97)01139-6.
Microbial exopolysaccharides such as xanthan and dextran have been commercial products for many years; the search for new gelling agents has yielded gellan. Exopolysaccharides have many other novel properties to offer, and the discovery of immune modulation and tumouristasis by beta-D-glucans, and the use of bacterial cellulose in audio membranes and of hyaluronic acid in cosmetics provide some novel applications. Semisynthetic polymers and polysaccharides as sources of oligosaccharides and as enzyme substrates in the determination of enzyme specificity should further increase the interest in these macromolecules.
多年来，诸如黄原胶和葡聚糖等微生物胞外多糖一直是商业产品；对新型胶凝剂的探索产生了结冷胶。胞外多糖还有许多其他新颖特性，β - D - 葡聚糖具有免疫调节和肿瘤抑制作用的发现，细菌纤维素在音频膜中的应用以及透明质酸在化妆品中的应用提供了一些新颖的用途。半合成聚合物和多糖作为低聚糖的来源以及在酶特异性测定中作为酶底物，应该会进一步提高人们对这些大分子的兴趣。
