Cyanobacterial supra-polysaccharide: Self-similar hierarchy, diverse morphology, and application prospects of sacran fibers

Abstract

The biological functions of polysaccharides are influenced by their chemistry and chain conformation, which have resulted in various functional applications and new uses for polysaccharides in recent years. Sacran is an intriguing ampholytic polysaccharide with several key properties such as metal adsorption, anti-inflammatory nature, and transdermal drug-carrying capacity. It has an extremely high molecular weight over 10⁷ g/mol, which is much higher than those of the previously reported microbial polysaccharides. In particular, it has a remarkable self-orienting characteristic over a large length scale, which could produce a bundle with twisted morphologies from the nanoscale to the microscale with diameters of ~1 μm and lengths of >800 μm. In this review, morphological variations, as well as novel self-organization and hierarchical self-assembly are comprehensively discussed. Sacran fibers deform into various forms, such as two- and three-dimensional flexible fibers and micro–nano fragments, during their evaporation. The self-assembly and disassembly of the sacran are explained in terms of the preparation process and factors that influence the morphology. This review will pave the way for the development of novel modules such as humidity-sensitive actuators, micro-patterned cell scaffolds, and uniaxially oriented membranes.