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We have isolated two anticoagulant polysaccharides from an acidic extract of Codium fragile. The purification was conducted using three consecutive chromatographies of DEAE-Toyopearl 650C, Sephadex G-100 (G-75), and Sepharose CL-6B by measuring activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT). The two purified anticoagulant polysaccharides, CF-1-VIa-1 and CF-1-VIIa-1, were found to be nearly homogenous on HPLC using a gel permeation column and appeared to have molecular weights of about 80,000 Da and 40,000 Da, respectively. The polysaccharides consisted mainly of arabinose and galactose in a molar ratio of about 2:1, and also comprised 12-13% of sulfates at their constituent sugars. CF-1-VIa-1 and CF-I-VIIa-1 inhibited blood coagulation via both the intrinsic and the extrinsic pathways. The polysaccharides unlike heparin showed an inhibitory activity on thrombin when a pure fibrinogen without antithrombin III was used as a substrate. Structural modifications using sulfation and desulfation affected the anticoagulant activities directly, suggesting that the content of sulfate plays an important role in the blood coagulation cascade. The polysaccharides may inhibit some proteases involved in the blood coagulation cascade, judging from the independence of calcium concentrations in their anticoagulant activity.
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