Dextran Sulfate Sodium Salt

Dextran sulfate is a polyanionic derivative of dextran produced by esterification of Dextran with chlorosulphonic acid. The sulfur content is approximately 17% which corresponds to an average of 1.9 sulfate groups per glucosyl residue of the dextran molecule. Dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) is the sodium salt which is a white to off-white powder freely soluble in water and salt solutions to form a stable, clear solution. The high purity and reproducible quality enables its application in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology industry.

Dextran sulfate is used asa nucleic acid hybridization accelerant. The polyanionic character of Dextran sulfate helps to approximate nucleic acid strands, increasing their effective concentration to each other and promoting hybridization. Dextran sulfate also demonstrates a sequestering interaction with proteins, presumably through hydrogen-bonding between the sulfate groups and amine groups of the protein that generates an insoluble complex. The ability of the polymer to precipitate fibrinogen and low-density lipoproteins from plasma solutions has been used for analysis and for anticoagulant applications. Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS) which has proven to have versatile value in Biomedical/clinical research. DSS can be used to study Colitis (Inflammatory Bowel disease) as well as an antiviral as agent.Oral administration of dextran sulfate induces colonic inflammation in a mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Acute, chronic, and relapsing models of IBD can be induced by varying the concentration and administration frequency of dextran sulfate.

Dextran sulfate sodium shows immunologically relevant activities: enhancement and suppression of humoral immunity, polyclonal activation of B-lymphocytes, stimulating even immature B cells, changes in thymocyte reactivity to lectins, enhancement/suppression of cell-mediated immune responses. Precipitates LDL and VLDL lipoproteins - in the presence of magnesium ions, dextran sulfate precipitates low-density lipoproteins from human serum leaving the high-density lipoproteins in the supernatant. Removal of lipoproteins by dextran sulfate precipitation may be useful in the purification of other materials such as beta 2 glycoprotein.