| Abstract [eng] |
β-glucans are biologically active molecules that can stimulate various immune system processes, including phagocytosis and cytokine synthesis. β-glucans act as pathogen-associated molecular patterns that are recognized by pattern recognition receptors of the innate immune system. Due to these properties, β-glucans are being investigated as potential immunotherapeutic agents, functional food components, and vaccine adjuvants. β-glucans are widely used as immunomodulatory substances, but detailed data on the relationship between their structural diversity and immune system receptor activation are lacking. β-glucans exhibit a wide spectrum of biological activity, but different β-glucan fractions may differ in their molecular weight, structure, degree of branching, solubility, and immunological activity. The dissertation studies the structure of β-glucan fractions extracted from yeasts by different methods using ATR-FTIR and 13C solid-state NMR spectroscopy. The in silico methods – molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations – were used to evaluate the interaction of β-glucans with the dimeric form of the Dectin-1 receptor and to characterize the molecular interaction mechanism in more detail. |
