The marine benthic invertebrate Urechis unicinctus exhibits extraordinary tolerance to hypoxic environments, making its coelomic fluid a unique and promising biological source for discovering novel stress-adapting macromolecules. Polysaccharides derived from the coelomic fluid of U. unicinctus were systematically extracted, fractionated, and characterized to investigate their structural features and associated biological activities. Gradient ethanol precipitation (30–80%) combined with DEAE-52 ion exchange chromatography yielded twelve fractions with distinct physicochemical properties. Significant variations were observed in molecular weight (103–105 Da), sulfate content (3.77–24.26%), and monosaccharide composition. High-ethanol fractions, particularly U68P and U18P (extracted at 60 °C and 100 °C, respectively, and both precipitated with 80% ethanol), were enriched in low-molecular-weight, highly sulfated heteropolysaccharides composed of galactose, fucose, glucosamine, and ribose. These fractions exhibited superior antioxidant activities, including strong scavenging effects against DPPH, ABTS, and hydroxyl radicals. Moreover, they demonstrated pronounced neuroprotective effects in the oxygen–glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) model using SH-SY5Y cells, significantly improving cell viability. Structure–activity relationship analysis revealed that reduced molecular weight, increased sulfation degree, and more diverse monosaccharide composition (e.g., more diverse monosaccharide composition) synergistically contribute to improved bioactivity by facilitating cellular uptake and exposing functional groups. In contrast, high-molecular-weight homoglucan fractions showed relatively weak effects. Overall, this study identifies U. unicinctus coelomic fluid as a promising source of bioactive polysaccharides and provides a theoretical basis for the development of marine-derived anti-hypoxic and antioxidant agents.
Wang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.