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. 2013 Jan;9(1):e1003080.
doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003080. Epub 2013 Jan 10.

Innate sensing of chitin and chitosan

Chelsea L Bueter  1 , Charles A Specht, Stuart M Levitz
Affiliations

Innate sensing of chitin and chitosan

Chelsea L Bueter et al. PLoS Pathog. 2013 Jan.
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Chitin and chitosan: from source to consequence.
Chitin and chitosan are naturally found in fungal cell walls, crustacean shells, nematodes eggs and gut linings, and insect exoskeletons. These polymers consist of long chains of N-acetylglucosamine (chitin) or glucosamine (chitosan). Conversion between the two polysaccharides can be performed chemically or happen within the organisms via chitin deacetylases. Mammalian exposure to the polymers has been linked to both upregulation and downregulation of inflammatory responses, including those involved in asthma. Despite this, chitin and chitosan are being utilized in a variety of biomedical applications, including tissue engineering and drug delivery.
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