BBSRC Studentship: Bioactive pectin galactans

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

There is growing interest in confirming health claims for the diet in preventing long-term chronic disease. This project provides an opportunity to investigate the molecular basis for claims that it is possible to modify pectin, a natural component of fruits and vegetables and a common food additive, to inhibit the onset and progression of cancers. Studies at the Institute of Food Research have established that specific fragments of pectin can bind to a key protein (galectin 3) involved in the regulation of stages in the development and progression of cancers in support of a suggested model for the bioactivity.

In collaboration with an International Consortium of Pectin Producers this project will investigate how to extract novel bioactive fibres components and assess their bioactivity. The aim would be to simulate the breakdown of these components under in vitro digestion conditions and to look at how effectively the fragments released can bind to and inhibit the role of galectin 3.

The research will involve the isolation and characterisation of extracts using techniques in carbohydrate chemistry, the use of simulated digestion models at IFR, use of novel nanoscience laboratory tools in assessing binding to galectin 3, and biochemical studies of the specific roles of pectin fragments in disrupting intracellular signalling pathways involved in cell differentiation, proliferation and programmed cell death.

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