Study on macrophage activation and structural characteristics of purified polysaccharides from the liquid culture broth of Hericium erinaceus

• Published in: Carbohydrate polymers Vol. 78; no. 1; pp. 162 - 168
• Main Authors: Lee, Jong Seok, Cho, Jae Youl, Hong, Eock Kee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-08-2009; Elsevier
• Subjects: anomeric configuration; antineoplastic agents; Applied sciences; Basidiomycetes; Biological and medical sciences; chemical composition; Exact sciences and technology; exopolysaccharides; glycosidic linkages; helix-coil transition; Hericium; Hericium erinaceus; Immunomodulators; immunostimulants; Immunostimulating polysaccharide; Laminarin-like triple helix; Macrophage activation; macrophages; Medical sciences; molecular conformation; molecular weight; monosaccharides; mushrooms; Natural polymers; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; physicochemical properties; Physicochemistry of polymers; polysaccharides; Starch and polysaccharides; Macrophage activation; Immunostimulating polysaccharide; Hericium erinaceus; Laminarin-like triple helix; Molecular structure; Chemical isolation; Experimental study; Gene expression; Biological activity; Basidiomycota; Fungi; Water soluble compound; Immunostimulant agent; Microbial origin; Triple helical structure; Microorganism culture; Oside polymer; Chemical composition; Aqueous solution; Macrophage
• ISSN: 0144-8617; 1879-1344
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2009.04.036

Recently, a number of bioactive molecules, including antitumor agents, have been identified in various higher basidiomycetes mushrooms. Polysaccharides are the best known and most potent mushroom derived substances that display immuno-pharmacological properties. In this study, the water soluble crude polysaccharide HEB-P, which was obtained from the liquid culture broth of
Hericium erinaceus by ethanol precipitation, was fractionated by DEAE cellulose and Sepharose CL-6B column chromatography. This fractionation process resulted in two polysaccharide fractions that were termed HEB-NP Fr I and HEB-AP Fr I. Of the fractions, HEB-AP Fr I was able to upregulate the functional events mediated by activated macrophages, such as production of nitric oxide (NO) and expression of cytokines (IL-1β and TNF-α). Its structural characteristics were investigated by a combination of chemical and instrumental analyses, including methylation, reductive cleavage, acetylation, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Results indicate that HEB-AP Fr I was a low molecular mass polysaccharide with a laminarin-like triple helix conformation of the β-1,3-branched-β-1,2-mannan.