Acidic oligosaccharide sugar chain （AOSC）, a D-mannuronic acid oligosaccharide, derived from brownalgaepolysaccharide, has been completed Phase I clinical trial in China as an anti-Alzheimer＇s Disease （AD） drug candidate. The identification of AOSC-binding protein（s） in neurons is very important for understanding its action mechanism. To determine the binding protein（s） of AOSC in neurons mediating its anti-AD activities, confocal microscopy, affinity chromatography, and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry （LC-MS/MS） analysis were used. Confocal microscopy analysis shows that AOSC binds to SH-SY5Y cells in concentration-, time-, and temperature-dependent fashions. The AOSC binding proteins were purified by affinity chromatography and identified by LC-MS/MS analysis. The results showed that there are 349 proteins binding AOSC, including clathrin, adaptor protein-2 （AP-2） and amyloid precursor protein （APP）. These results suggest that the binding/entrance of AOSC to neurons is probably responsible for anti-AD activities.
