Production of chitosan-oligosaccharides by the chitin-hydrolytic system of Trichoderma harzianum and their antimicrobial and anticancer effects

Production of chitosan-oligosaccharides by the chitin-hydrolytic system of Trichoderma harzianum and their antimicrobial and anticancer effects

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Journal Pre-proof Production of chitosan-oligosaccharides by the chitin-hydrolytic system of Trichoderma harzianum and their antimicrobial and anticancer effects Olicón-Hernández Dario Rafael, Zepeda-Giraud Luis Fernándo, Pedroza-Torres Abraham, Vázquez-Landaverde Pedro Alberto, Guerra-Sánchez Guadalupe, Pardo Juan Pablo PII:

S0008-6215(19)30494-X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carres.2019.107836

Reference:

CAR 107836

To appear in:

Carbohydrate Research

Received Date: 22 August 2019 Revised Date:

23 September 2019

Accepted Date: 15 October 2019

Please cite this article as: Olicó.-Herná. Dario Rafael, Z.-G. Luis Fernándo, P.-T. Abraham, Vá.Landaverde. Pedro Alberto, Guerra.-Sá. Guadalupe, P.J. Pablo, Production of chitosan-oligosaccharides by the chitin-hydrolytic system of Trichoderma harzianum and their antimicrobial and anticancer effects, Carbohydrate Research (2019), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carres.2019.107836. This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. © 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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Production of chitosan-oligosaccharides by the chitin-hydrolytic system of

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Trichoderma harzianum and their antimicrobial and anticancer effects

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Olicón-Hernández Dario Rafaela; Zepeda-Giraud Luis Fernándob; Pedroza-Torres

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Abrahamc; Vázquez-Landaverde Pedro Albertod; Guerra-Sánchez Guadalupeb;

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Pardo Juan Pabloa*.

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a

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de Bioquímica. Laboratorio 7. Circuito Interior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria CP 04510,

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento

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Ciudad de México, México.

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b

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Departamento de Microbiología. Laboratorio de bioquímica y biotecnología de

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hongos. Carpio y Plan de Ayala s/n. Santo Tomas, Miguel Hidalgo. CP 11350,

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Ciudad de México, México.

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c

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Hereditario. Avenida San Fernando 22, Belisario Domínguez Secc XVI, CP 14080

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Ciudad de México, México.

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d

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Tecnología Avanzada, Unidad Querétaro. Cerro Blanco 141. Colinas del

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Cimatario. CP 76090 Querétaro, México.

Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas.

Cátedra CONACYT-Instituto Nacional de Cancerología. Clínica de Cáncer

Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Centro de Investigación en Ciencia Aplicada y

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*Corresponding author:

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Pardo Juan Pablo

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Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento

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de Bioquímica. Laboratorio 7. Circuito Interior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria CP 04510,

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Ciudad de México, México. Phone number: (+52) 555623 2175. Email:

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[email protected]

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Abstract

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Chitosan-oligosaccharides (COS) are low-molecular weight chitosan derivatives

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with interesting clinical applications. The optimization of both COS production and

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purification is an important step in the design of an efficient production system and

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for the exploration of new COS applications. Trichoderma harzianum is an

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innocuous biocontrol agent that represents a novel biotechnological tool due to the

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production of extracellular enzymes, including those that produce a COS mixture.

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In this work, we propose different systems for the production of COS using the T.

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harzianum chitinolitic system. A complete qualitative and quantitative analysis of a

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partially purified COS mixture were performed. Also, an evaluation of the

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anticancer and antimicrobial effects of the COS mixture was carried out. Three

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chitosan variants (colloidal, solid and solution) and two fungus stages (spores and

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mycelia) were tested for COS production. The best system consisted of the

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interaction of the solid chitosan and the fungal spores, producing a COS mixture

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containing species from the monomer to the hexamer, in a concentration range of

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7 to 238 mg/mL, according to chromatographic analysis. The proposed purification

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method isolated the monomer and the dimer from the COS mixture. Moreover, the

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COS mixture has an inhibitory effect on the growth of bacteria and changes the

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morphology of yeasts. As anticancer compounds, COS inhibited the growth of

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cervical cancer cells at concentration of 4 mg/mL and significantly reduced the

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survival rate of the cells. In conclusion, T. harzianum proved to be an efficient

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system for COS mixture production.

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Key words: Chitosan-oligosaccharides; Trichoderma harzianum; antimicrobial;

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anticancer

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1. Introduction

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Trichoderma harzianum is a filamentous ascomycete used as a biocontrol element

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and biotechnological tool that has gained interest in recent years [1, 2]. This fungus

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is a cosmopolitan microorganism, with applications in the field of agriculture, being

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part of commercial mixtures used for composting and involved in the control of

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pests in crops of interest [3]. The applications of this fungus are not limited to

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agricultural topics, since it also has the ability to degrade different substrates to

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produce extracellular enzymes of industrial interest, and has been used for the

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manufacture of nanoparticles with antibiotic action and the production of biofuels

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[2, 4-6].

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It has been reported that T. harzianum has a powerful inhibitory effect against

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phytopathogenic fungi, with mycoparasitism as one of the most important

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mechanisms associated with this effect; however, the production of antibiotic

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molecules as well as the secretion of hydrolytic enzymes that attack the cell wall of

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different fungi also have an important role in biocontrol behavior, with the group

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extracellular chitinases being one of the most interesting [7]. In this context, 331

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enzymes with chitinase activity were reported in the uniprot database for T.

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harzianum and four of them were identified and characterized as endochitinases

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(https://www.uniprot.org/) [8]. Possibly, T. harzianum has one of the most versatile

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"chitinomes" in nature since it is known that some strains have changes in their

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gene architecture, signal peptide, domain organization and molecular weight in

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chitinase production [9].

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Chitinases (EC 3.2.1.14) are endo- and exo- enzymes that degrade chitin, a dense

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and crystalline N-acetyl-glucosamine-polymer present in insects and crustaceans.

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In fungi, chitinases contribute to morphogenetic, nutritional and pathogenic

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processes, including spore germination, hyphal branching, autolysis and

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mycoparasitic interactions [10]. From a biotechnological point of view, chitinases

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are used either as bioinsecticides or to obtain bioactive derivatives from chitin

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and/or chitosan (deacetylated derivative of chitin).

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Chitosan-oligosaccharides (COS) are low-molecular-weight chains of 6-10

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glucosamine repeats derived from the action of chitinases on chitosan [11]. COS

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are potential therapeutic compounds owing to their importance for human health,

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for example via their proposed use as antibiotics, anticancer and anti-cholesterol

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molecules [11, 12]. COS are produced by a variety of extracellular enzymes,

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including chitosanases, chitinases, papain and cellulases [13, 14]; however, many

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of these only explore production with a single substrate.

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To our knowledge, there is only one report on the use of chitinase from T.

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harzianum for the production of COS [15]. In this study, COS mixture was obtained

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from α and/or β-chitosan and the mixture was effective against bacteria. However,

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in this work the composition of the COS mixture was not completely identified and

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the influence of variants of the substrate or the stage within the cell cycle of the

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fungus were not tested.

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The goals of this work were as follows: 1) to evaluate six different systems for the

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production of COS using the chitinase from T. harzianum and the combination of 3

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variants of chitosan (colloidal, solid and as dilution) and 2 cell cycle stages of the

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fungus (spores and mycelia); 2) to identify and quantify this COS mixture by

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chromatographic techniques; 3) to develop a partial purification system and, 4) to

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search for clinical applications of COS as antimicrobial and anticancer agents.

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2. Materials and methods

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2.1.

Strain and culture conditions

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Trichoderma harzianum strain T1 was isolated from contaminated soil and belongs

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to a collection of strains in the laboratorio de bioquímica y biotecnología de hongos

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of ENCB-IPN, México. This strain exhibited tolerance in the biodegradation of

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petroleum hydrocarbons according to the results reported by Argumedo-Delira et

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al. [16].

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Commercial Potato Dextrose Agar and Broth (PDA and PDB, Becton Dickinson

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Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA) were used for the for the maintenance and storage of the

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T1 strain.

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To obtain mycelium, discs of 1 cm diameter were cut from PDA plates with

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previous growth and placed on fresh plates. Discs were cultured at 28°C under

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static conditions until the mycelium occupied the entire plate. The collection of

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spores was obtained by mechanical processes using plates saturated with

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mycelium, according to our previous protocol and adjusted by the Neubauer

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chamber method [17].

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2.2.

Chitinase induction

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For chitin induction, a production medium was designed based on the method

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outlined by Lin et al. [15]. The composition of this medium was as follows (g/L): 10

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colloidal chitin; 4.2 ammonium sulfate; 6.9 monobasic sodium phosphate; 2

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monobasic potassium phosphate; 0.3 magnesium sulfate with 62.5 mL of salt

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solution. The medium was adjusted to pH 5.0 and sterilized by autoclave.

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Two forms of the fungi were tested, mycelium and spores. For the first case a disc

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of 1 cm diameter, saturated with T. harzianum mycelia from a PDA plate and

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incubated for 72 h, was added to a flask with the production medium. In the case of

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spores, the initial concentration in each flask was adjusted to 1x106 spores/mL.

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Both were cultured at 28°C/120 rpm for 7 days. After this time, the supernatant was

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recovered after centrifugation (3000 xg/10 min) and sterilized by filtration (0.22µm)

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to obtain the crude enzyme. The experiments were carried out in triplicate.

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2.3.

Obtaining chitosan variants

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Three types of chitosan were used for production of COS: 1) Colloidal chitosan

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(CC), solid chitosan (CS) and chitosan solution (DC). Colloidal chitosan (CC) was

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prepared according to our previous protocol, using 85% phosphoric acid and

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resuspension with ethanol [13]. Stock chitosan solution (DC, 50 g/L) was prepared

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with solid low molecular weight chitosan (Sigma Aldrich St. Louis, MO, USA) in

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0.1% acetic acid [18]. In the case of CS, solid low molecular weight chitosan

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without any processing was used (Sigma Aldrich St. Louis, MO, USA).

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2.4.

COS production

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The solid substrates were suspended in 0.1 M acetate buffer pH 4.0 at a

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concentration of 11 g/L. DC substrate was used at the same concentration.

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Substrates were mixed with the sterile crude enzymes obtained from spores or

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from mycelia (section 2.3) separately, at a substrate/enzyme ratio of 10:1 (w/v or

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v/v depending on the case). The mixtures were incubated for 7 days at 42°C and

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the concentration of reducing sugar was monitored by the DNS method to select

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the best system for the production of COS [19].

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2.5.

Chromatographic analysis

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For the chromatographic analysis, samples were concentrated 20 times by

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lyophilization. TLC and HPLC techniques for qualitative and quantitative analysis

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were carried out. In the first case, 20 µL of the samples were placed on 10x5 cm

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silica gel plates and a water-propanol-ammonium hydroxide solution (7:3:1) was

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used as the mobile phase [13]. COS standard (C3-C7 Carbosynth, Berkshire,

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United Kingdom) and 0.1 M glucosamine were used as standards. The plates were

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treated with an alcohol-sulfuric acid solution (10:1) and heated at 150°C for COS

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observation. For HPLC, a Tec Agilent 1200 series (Agilent Technologies, Santa

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Clara, CA) coupled to an amino column (Hypersil APS-2 brand Thermo Fisher

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Scientific; 4.6 × 150 mm) was employed. An acetonitrile–water (70:30) mixture was

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used as the mobile phase with a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min. 10 µL of the concentrated

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sample was injected for the quantification of COS, each peak was interpolated in a

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standard curve using the same standards as in TLC [13].

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2.6.

Antimicrobial effect

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The antimicrobial effect was measured using a growth inhibition test by plate

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diffusion. The methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) USA 300 (Gram

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+); Escherichia coli ATTCCK12 (Gram -), Ustilago maydis FB2 ATCC201384

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(Basidiomycete) and Candida albicans ATCC10231 (Ascomycete) were used to

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test the effectiveness of the COS mixture in inhibiting the growth of bacteria and

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yeasts. For bacteria, nutritive standard agar (Becton Dickinson Franklin Lakes, NJ,

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USA) was used; in the case of yeasts, YPD plates were prepared (1% yeast

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extract, 0.15% ammonium nitrate, 0.25% Bacto peptone, 1% glucose and 2% agar,

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pH 6.8). A cell suspension of each microorganism was prepared from a liquid pre-

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inoculum and adjusted to number 1 on the McFarland scale (approximately, 0.25

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UDO) and a massive plating was carried out by immersion of the microorganisms

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in the medium. COS mixture (10, 5, 2.5, 1.25, 0.70 mg/mL) was placed on the

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plates directly and incubated at 28°C (yeasts) and 37°C (bacteria) for 12-18 h. The

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experiments were done in triplicate and the inhibitory effect was evaluated

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qualitatively. To determine the EC50 and the minimum inhibitory concentration

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(MIC) of the COS mixture, concentrations from 1 to 10 mg/mL were evaluated,

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according to the method reported by Olicón-Hernández et al. [18]. The growth of

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the strains was expressed as % of the optical density (O.D.) at 600 nm of the

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control (cells incubated in the absence of the COS mixture) after 24 h of incubation

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(37°C/120 rpm).

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2.7.

Anticancer effect

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To determine the cytotoxic effect of COS on cervical cancer cells, we performed a

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cell proliferation assay according to the protocol described by Arora et al. [20]. 3 x

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104 HeLa cells were cultured in 6-well plates under standard conditions [Eagle's

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Minimum Essential Medium, 10% (v / v) FBS obtained from Sigma-Aldrich at 37°C

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in at 5% CO2 incubator]. After 24 hours of growth, the cells were transferred to

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fresh medium and COS was added at different concentrations (control, 4, 6 and 8

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mg/mL) and incubated for 48 hrs. After the treatment period, the medium was

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replaced, and the cells were washed with PBS. Next, the cells were fixed with

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0.75% crystal violet (m/v) in ethanol for 60 min. Subsequently, the images of the

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cultures were taken at different scales (5X, 10X, 20X) with the help of an inverted

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microscope. Finally, the cells were washed with a 1% SDS solution and the

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absorbance was measured at 570 nm.

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2.8.

COS purification

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For purification of the components of the COS mixture, a biogel p-4 (Biorad

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Hercules, California, USA) was placed into a glass column (2x30 cm) with distilled

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water as the eluent, with a flow rate of 0.14 mL/min. Five mL of concentrated COS

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mixture was placed on the top of the column and fractions of 400 µL were

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collected. The concentration of reducing sugars in each fraction was determined by

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the DNS method [19], and the fractions with a higher concentration were assessed

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by TLC under the conditions described above.

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3. Results

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3.1.

Comparison of COS production systems

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The kinetics of COS production using the six proposed systems is shown in Figure

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1A. In all cases, the maximum production of reducing sugar was achieved at 7

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days of incubation, with the colloidal chitosan with spores crude enzyme (CCS)

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being the system with the higher production. The lowest production was observed

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with COS produced with chitosan solution and the mycelium of T. harzianum.

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Regarding the other COS production systems, no significant differences were

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observed. For ease of handling, it was decided to analyze the composition of the

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mixtures of the samples that used spores for the production of COS. The TLC

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analysis of these samples is shown in Figure 1B. Interestingly, the CCS system

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was composed exclusively by glucosamine and was not useful for the production of

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COS, even though it was the system that presented the best performance in the

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initial exploration. In contrast, solid chitosan with spores (CSS) provided the best

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COS production profile. According to the results, the CSS system was selected for

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the production of COS and used for the subsequent experiments.

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3.2.

Quantification of COS by HPLC

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The quantitative analysis of the COS mixture from the CSS system is shown in

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Figure 2. The chromatogram shows the signal of six COS, including the monomer

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and dimer of glucosamine. C3 and C4 signals were partially overlapping and no

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signal was observed for C7. The main component of the mixture was glucosamine,

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represented by more than 80%, followed by dimers, trimers and pentamers

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respectively.

229 230

3.3.

COS mixture inhibited the growth of bacteria and changed the

morphology of yeast

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The COS mixture affected the growth of bacteria at concentrations of 2.5 and 10

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mg/mL (Figure 3). E. coli was the most sensitive bacteria, being inhibited by 2.5

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mg/mL (Figure 3B). On the other hand, S. aureus was inhibited only at the highest

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concentrations of the COS mixture (Figure 3A). However, it is important to mention

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that this is an MRSA strain and, outstandingly, the COS mixture showed an

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important inhibitory effect at the concentrations mentioned above. The MIC and

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EC50 are shown in Figure 4. The results corroborate that E. coli was more sensitive

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than S. aureus (approximately EC50 = 5.1 mg/mL and MIC = 9.6 mg/mL; EC50 = 9.4

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mg/mL and MIC = 16.9 mg/mL respectively)

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In the case of yeasts, inhibition of the growth was null at all tested concentrations;

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however, at 10 mg/mL both yeasts modified their cellular morphology, resulting in a

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change in their colony morphology on the plate (Figure 3C and 3D), with the

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strongest change in U. maydis. Since yeasts were not sensitive to COS mixture,

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MIC and EC50 were not determined.

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3.4.

Anticancer effect

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Cell proliferation in HeLa cells was affected by COS at 48 hrs. There was a

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modification in the morphology of the HeLa cells at all the concentrations tested,

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with deformation of the cell body, a reduction in the size and number of the cells,

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and the presence of extracellular bodies being observed (Figure 5). The greatest

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effect on cell proliferation was obtained at a concentration of 8 mg/mL, with a

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decrease close to 40% (p<0.05). At 4 and 6 mg / mL, cell proliferation decreased

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23% and 32%, respectively (Figure 6).

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3.5.

Partial purification system of COS

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An analysis of the fractions obtained by the purification of the COS mixture is

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shown in Figure 7A. Six, single-well, defined peaks (p1-p4 and p7-p8) were

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detected by the DNS method and 1 wide peak (p4-p5) was divided into two for the

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TLC experiment. The highest absorbance values corresponded to the last signals

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(p7-p8), in contrast to the first four that had the weakest signals. According to TLC

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plates (Figure 7B), the fractions p1-p2 (Figure 7B-1) did not have well-defined COS

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and the concentration of the compounds was the lowest; the p3 and p6 fractions

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had the dimer (Figure 7B-2 and -3); p4 and p5 contained a COS mixture that

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included the dimer but not the monomer (Figure 7B-2); and p7-p8 was formed

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exclusively by glucosamine (Figure 7B-2). With this method it was possible to

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purify the monomer and the dimer from the mixture of COS, but it was not possible

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to separate the rest of the COS individually.

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4. Discussion

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COS have interesting clinical applications that have promoted the development of

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diverse production systems for these molecules. In this work, we showed that the

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accessibility and presentation of the substrate affects COS profile, even to the

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point of producing only the monomer. In this context, Santo-Mariano [21] proposed

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the continuous production of COS by α-amylase from Bacillus amylolyquefaciens in

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a dual-reactor system testing 3 different chitosan variants. In this case, QS1

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chitosan (MW 95.5 KDa, 81% degree of deacetylation, DD); CHIT100 chitosan

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(MW 100–300 KDa, DD≥90%) and CHIT600 chitosan (MW 600–800 KDa.

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DD≥90%) were the substrates. The profile of COS changed according to the

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substrate; for example, QS1 produced an acetylated COS mixture, as a

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consequence of the low degree of deacetylation (DD) of the substrate (81%). It has

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been seen that this type of COS has a smaller effect on human health. In addition,

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COS profile was similar with the other substrates, although, a higher concentration

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of glucosamine was obtained with CHIT600 [21]. This result is similar to our

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findings with colloidal chitosan.

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According to our results, the best substrate for the production of COS was solid

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crystalline chitosan, which is even more efficient because it can be used directly.

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This result contrasts with that reported by Nidheesh et al., who found a higher

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production of COS with colloidal chitosan (4.43 mM of COS) as compared to

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crystalline chitosan (1.7 mM) after 24 h of hydrolysis using the Purpureocillium

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lilacinum CFRNT12 chitosanase [22]. In our research group, the use of colloidal

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chitosan for the production of COS using Bacillus thuriengiensis endochitosanase

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was reported, obtaining a mixture of COS from C1 to C6 with high production

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yields [13]. Taken together, these results indicate that the enzymatic system of

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each microorganism is different and independently coupled to each substrate. In

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addition, the absence of a chemical pretreatment to obtain the colloidal chitosan is

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a favorable point for the use of Trichoderma harzianum enzymes.

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The characteristics of the original polymer could be crucial for high yields of

295

production and/or to increase the biological effect. For example, chitosan oligomers

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produced by the chitinase of Serratia proteamaculans (wild-type and mutant),

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employing chitosan with 35 and 61% of acetylation (DA) as substrates, induced an

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oxidative burst in rice cell cultures [23]. In this case, the COS mixture was more

299

effective when the substrate had more DA; however, the degree of polymerization

300

of COS (DP) is also an important parameter, since the shorter COS were the worst

301

inducers of the defense response in plants [23].

302

Lin et al. previously reported the use of T. harzianum for the production of COS,

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observing a maximum global concentration of reducing sugars of approximately 70

304

mmol/L using β-chitosan. However, with this method it is not possible to distinguish

305

the percentage that corresponds to COS, since the medium contains other

306

elements that react with the DNS reagent. In addition, a complete characterization

307

of the COS polymerization profile and its quantification was not performed [15]. In

308

the literature, different yields have been reported in the production of COS, and

309

these depend on the type of enzyme, microorganisms, substrate, and/or production

310

system [14].

311

Different chitosan enzymatic systems have been tested. For example, the

312

production of low molecular weight chitosan derivatives was optimized by surface

313

response surface methodology using commercial papain (protease). In this case, a

314

kinetic characterization of the products of the hydrolysis showed that the initial

315

concentration of chitosan is an important parameter for COS production, since

316

papain was inhibited when the chitosan concentration was above 8 g/L [24]. A

317

recent approach to COS production uses low molecular weight derivatives of chitin

318

which deacetylate with recombinant enzymes from Rhizobium sp. and Vibrio

319

cholerae to obtain the COS mixture; this system has a better control of the degree

320

of deacetylation and polymerization of the resulting mixture [25].

321

Here we reported the sensitivity of Gram (+) and (-) bacteria against the COS

322

mixture, with E. coli being the most affected by the presence of the compounds.

323

This result is consistent the higher minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of COS

324

in gram positive bacteria than in gram negative bacteria observed by Li et al. A

325

point to note is that they reported that the growth of S. aureus was not inhibited by

326

COS, whereas we found the opposite [15]. However, in other works it was found

327

sensitivity of this bacterium to the mixture of COS [26-28]. Another important point

328

is that our COS mixture is effective against the growth of a strain of S. aureus type

329

MRSA (Methicillin-resistant strain), which opens the possibility of using COS as an

330

alternative treatment for strains resistant to antibiotics. The mode of action of COS

331

mixture against bacteria is unclear, however, the activity depends on several

332

factors such as degree of polymerization and deacetylation, type of microorganism

333

and physico-chemical properties of the cell wall. The most accepted mode of action

334

of the antibacterial activity is related to the free amino group and the positive

335

charge of COS that can alter cell membrane permeability causing the leakage of

336

cell constituents that finally leads to the death of bacteria. The charge distribution

337

of bacterial cell wall seems to play a main role for the antibacterial activities of the

338

positively charged COS. Bacterial cell wall has a negative charge distribution. In

339

Gram-negative bacteria is higher than in Gram-positive bacteria. Therefore, the

340

adsorption of the positive charged COS on the surface is higher in Gram-negative

341

bacteria than in Gram-positive bacteria. This explains the reason why most Gram-

342

negative bacteria are more sensitive to COS mixtures. [14, 18].

343

In the case of the antifungal effect, it was demonstrated that COS with more than

344

20 repetitions of the monomer inhibited the growth fungi (Botrytris cinerea and

345

Mucor piriformis) better than those that have a lower degree of polymerization,

346

such as those obtained in this work (3-6 units), which would explain the null effect

347

of our mixture on the yeasts [29]. In agreement with this conclusion, chitosan

348

induced more significant damage in U. maydis structure compared to the low

349

molecular weight derivative oligochitosan [18]. It was reported that the COS

350

interferes with the synthesis of adhesive compounds and biofilm precursor, which,

351

added to its polycationic nature, would explain the cell aggregation and

352

morphological changes as consequence of the interaction with the COS mixture

353

[30].

354

As anticancer compounds, it has been reported that COS can interfere with cell

355

proliferation and morphology and the metastasis of various tumor lines [31]. Here,

356

we demonstrated that the COS mixture produced by T. harzianum chitinase,

357

changed the morphology of HeLa cells and significantly reduced the survival of

358

cells. This result is consistent with that reported by de Asis et al. where a COS

359

mixture obtained from the fungus Metarhizium Anisopliae reduced the proliferation

360

of HeLa cells up to 60%, but did not affect HepG2 hepatocarcinoma cells (ATCC

361

HB-8065) [32]. In contrast, Ronghua Huang et al. reported that a standard mixture

362

of COS did not affect the viability of HeLa cells. However, modification of the COS

363

charge by chemical inclusions improved the anticancer capacity of the compounds

364

[33]. de Assis et al. observed that different effects on HeLa cells proliferation

365

depended on the COS composition, suggesting that a combination of COS

366

products may be essential for developing antineoplastic drugs [32]. The exact

367

mechanism against the proliferation of cancer cells is unknown, but may be

368

associated with the electrostatic charges of COS, changes in the permeability of

369

tumor cells and regulation of the expression of tumor factors such as

370

metalloproteinase-9 or/and vascular endothelial growth factor [34].

371

Although our results are promising, important improvements in the method of

372

production and further experiments on the anticancer and antimicrobial effects

373

should be implemented for the potential clinical applications.

374

5. Conclusions

375

The chitin-hydrolytic system of T. harzianum produces a chitosan-oligosaccharide

376

mixture composed from monomers to hexamers/heptamers, with solid crystalline

377

chitosan and fungi spores providing the best conditions for COS production. The

378

COS mixture showed a strong growth inhibition effect against Gram (-) and

379

antibiotic resistant Gram (+) bacteria, but was ineffective in inhibiting yeast growth.

380

The COS mixture has potential effective anticancer effects against cervical cancer

381

HeLa cells, but it will be essential to test its effects against other cell lines.

382 383

Acknowledgments and funding sources

384

This work was supported by CONACyT grants 254904 (JPP) and 256502 (GGS),

385

SIP project 20190200 (GGS) and PAPIIT-DGAPA project IN222117 (JPP). The

386

first author (DROH) want to thank Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal

387

Académico (DGAPA) program of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México for

388

the support of the postdoctoral fellowship.

389 390

Figure captions:

391

Figure 1. Analysis of COS production by T. harzianum. A) Reducing sugar

392

quantification in the production systems of COS. Reducing sugars were observed

393

over 198 h. CC=colloidal chitosan; CS=solid chitosan; DC=chitosan solution;

394

S=fungus spores; M=fungus mycelium. B) TLC of COS mixture from the highest

395

reducing sugar systems. GlcN=monomer (glucosamine); C3-C7=trimer to

396

heptamer. Only the final samples of fungus spore systems were analyzed.

397

Figure 2. Quantification of COS mixture. The HPLC analysis showed a composition

398

with mixture of monomers to hexamers. The most abundant component was

399

glucosamine, followed by dimers, trimers and pentamers. C1-C6=Monomer-

400

Hexamer

401

Figure 3. Antimicrobial inhibitory growth effect of COS mixture. A) Staphylococcus

402

aureus; B) Escherichia coli; C) Candida albicans; D) Ustilago maydis.

403

Concentration tested (mg/mL) 1=10; 2=5; 3=2.5; 4=1.25 and 5=0.70.

404

405

Figure 4. Bacterial growth in different COS mixture concentrations. The growth was

406

expressed as % of the control O.D.600nm after 24 h of incubation at 37 °C. MIC (red

407

line) and EC50 (blue line).

408

Figure 5. Proliferation of HeLa cells in the presence of COS at different

409

concentrations. Changes in the structure and number of HeLa cells were observed

410

under treatment at all concentrations. Cells grown without COS were used as

411

control.

412

Figure 6. Cytotoxic effect of COS on cervical cancer cells. Cells grown without

413

COS were used as control. (*) represents statistically significant differences. The

414

statistical test used for comparison was the student t-test for unpaired samples with

415

Welch correction, with p = 0.048.

416

Figure 7. Purification profile of COS using biogel p-4. A) Elution peaks of COS

417

detected by DNS method. B) TLC of the selected peaks. 1) p1-p2; 2) p3-p5; 3) p6-

418

p8. GlcN=glucosamine; C3-C7= trimer-heptamer.

419 420 421

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Highlights •

Trichoderma harzianum chitinase is a potential system for COS production



T. harzianum enzymes produces a COS mixture from monomers to hexamers.



The maximum yield of COS was obtained using solid crystal chitosan and fungus spores



COS mixture has an effective antimicrobial and anticancer effect

Conflict of Interest Statement

The author declares that the research was conducted without any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.