Hericium erinaceus is typically used in traditional Chinese medicine for mucosal protection, healing of gastric ulcers, and treatment of gastritis. We purified from the cultured mycelia of H. erinaceus a polysaccharide with anti-gastric ulcer and antigastritis activity, but its effects on gastric malignancy have not been elucidated. We examined the differential effects of this purified polysaccharide, named EP-1, on the human gastric (GES-1) cell line and a precancerous cell line (MC) that was transformed from GES-1 using N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. We observed that the polysaccharide potently induced cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase in the MC cell line but did not have any effect on the GES-1 cell line at the same doses. Further mechanistic studies revealed that the polysaccharide exerted its activity through an apoptosis-associated pathway by modulating the expression of Bax, Bcl-2, and caspase-3. Differential effects of the polysaccharide on the GES-1 and MC cell lines indicate that the polysaccharide was effective in preventing gastric cancer progression.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and potential of PCS as the anti-fatigue functional food. PCS was prepared by water extracting-alcohol precipitating method, and its chemical compositions of monosaccharide were analyzed. Then, acute toxicity and anti-fatigue activity of PCS were evaluated. PCS is composed of Rha, Arab, Xyl, Man, Glu, and Gal, its molar ratio is 0.17: 0.30: 0.26: 0.35: 1.00: 0.57. No mortality and general symptoms of toxicity were observed in the PCS treated mice (7.5, 15, and 20g/kg body weight), the body weight and food consumption were not significantly changed compared with the normal control group. The relative weights of main organ, and biochemical indicators also did not markedly change. PCS can significantly prolong the duration of the swimming time to exhaustion in mice, decrease BUN, LA levels, increase LDH activities, and the contents of HG in the PCS treated mice. The dose of 400mg/kg body weight is the optimal dose for anti-fatigue activity both in male and female mice. In conclusion, PCS is a promising traditional natural-based therapeutic remedy for relieving fatigue with high safety.

Poria cocos Wolf is a popular traditional medicinal plant that has invigorating activity. Water-soluble polysaccharides (PCPs) are its main active components. In this study, four different methods were used to extract PCPs, which include hot water extraction (PCP-H), ultrasonic-assisted extraction (PCP-U), enzyme-assisted extraction (PCP-E) and microwave-assisted extraction (PCP-M). Their chemical compositions and structure characterizations were compared. In vitro antioxidant activities were studied on the basis of DPPH radical, hydroxyl radical, reducing power and metal chelating ability. The results showed that PCPs were composed of mannose, glucose, galactose, and arabinose, and had typical IR spectra characteristics of polysaccharides. Compared with other PCPs, PCP-M had lower neutral sugar content, higher mannose content and higher uronic acid content. The molecular weight were determined as PCP-E<pcp-m<pcp-u

Targeting autophagy may serve as a promising strategy for cancer therapy. Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide (GLP) has been shown to exert promising anti-cancer effects. However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Whether GLP regulates autophagy in cancer has never been reported. In this study, GLP induced the initiation of autophagy in colorectal cancer (CRC) HT-29 and HCT116 cells, as evidenced by enhanced level of LC3-II protein, GFP-LC3 puncta, and increased formation of double membrane vacuoles. However, GLP treatment caused marked increase of p62 expression. Addition of late stage autophagy inhibitor, chloroquine (CQ), further enhanced LC3-II and p62 level, as well as increased autophagosome accumulation, suggesting a blockage of autophagic flux by GLP in CRC cells. We then found GLP blocked autophagosome and lysosome fusion as determined by mRFP-GFP-LC3 colocalization analysis. Mechanistic study revealed that GLP-induced disruption of autophagosome-lysosome fusion is due to reduced lysosome acidification and lysosomal cathepsin activities. Cell viability and flow cytometry assays revealed that GLP-induced autophagosome accumulation is responsible for GLP-induced apoptosis in CRC cells. In line with this, inhibition of autophagy initiation by 3-methyladenine (3-MA), an early stage autophagy inhibitor, attenuated GLP-induced apoptosis. In contrast, suppression of autophagy at late stage by CQ enhanced the anti-cancer effect of GLP. Furthermore, we demonstrated that GLP-induced autophagosome accumulation and apoptosis is mediated via MAPK/ERK activation. Finally, GLP inhibited tumor growth and also inhibited autophagic flux in vivo. These results unveil new molecular mechanism underlying anti-cancer effects of GLP, suggesting that GLP is a potent autophagy inhibitor and might be useful in anticancer therapy.

In this study, a high yield of crude polysaccharide (16.73± 0.756%) was extracted from the spent mushroom substrate of Lentinus edodes using a hot alkali extraction method. Two groups of polysaccharides (designated as LSMS-1 and LSMS-2) were obtained from the crude extract by size exclusion chromatography (SEC), and their molecular characteristics were examined by a multiangle laser-light scattering (MALLS) and refractive index detector system. The weight-average molar masses of LSMS-1 and LSMS-2 were determined to be 6.842 × 106 and 2.154 × 106 g/mol, respectively. The SEC/MALLS analysis revealed that the molecular shapes of LSMS-1 and LSMS-2 were sphere-like forms in aqueous solution. Carbohydrate composition analysis using chromatography--mass spectrometry revealed that they were both acid heteropolysaccharides. LSMS-1 comprised mainly glucose and galacturonic acid, whereas LSMS-2 mainly consisted of xylose and glucuronic acid. Fourier transform infrared spectral analysis of the purified fractions revealed typical characteristic polysaccharide groups. In addition, MTT assays with refined polysaccharide doses of 25, 50, 100, 200, and 400 µg/mL suggested that both of the polysaccharide fractions exhibited antiproliferative activity against 6 tested human tumor cell lines in a concentration-dependent manner, and LSMS-2 had better anticancer capacity in vitro than LSMS-1. The inhibition ratio of LSMS-2 against A549 human lung cancer cells, the SGC7901 gastric cancer cell line, MCF-7 breast cancer cells, the U937 histiocytic lymphoma cell line, and the MG-63 human osteosarcoma cell line reached 43.55%, 29.97%, 19.63%, 18.24%, and 17.93%, respectively, at a concentration of 400 µg/mL.

In this study, the structure characteristic of the Hericium erinaceus polysaccharide (HEP) was investigated using Fourier transformed infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), methylation and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The results showed that HEP, with a molecular weight of 43 KDa, was mainly composed of glucose and rhamnose. The linkages of the sugar residues of HEP were → 6) β-d-Glcp-(1 → and → 2) -α-l-Rhap-(1 → residue at the end of the branches. The Fusarium toxin deoxynivalenol (DON)-induced cellular injury model for IPEC-J2 cells was established and used to investigate the protective effects of HEP against the oxidative stress. The results suggest that HEP could significantly protect IPEC-J2 cells from DON-induced oxidative stress, inhibit DON-induced apoptosis and reduce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Overall, this study suggested that HEP could be explored as potential antioxidant agents for DON-induced intestinal mucosa injury.

The aim of this work is to characterize the primary structure and physicochemical properties of natural polysaccharides (GLP) and degraded polysaccharides (GLP) from Ganoderma lucidum, and evaluate their hypolipidemic and antioxidant activities. The results of particle size distribution and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides were effectively degraded by ultrasonic method. GLPwas composed of the same monosaccharide units as GLP but with different molar ratios. Infrared spectra and NMR showed that the primary structure of polysaccharides had not been changed by ultrasonic degradation. Meanwhile, the thermal stability of polysaccharides increased after ultrasonic treatment. After administration by GLP and GLPfour weeks, body weight, visceral index, atherosclerosis index (AI) and biochemical indicators in serum and in liver were determined. The results showed that GLPhad stronger hypolipidemic and antioxidant activities than GLP. GLPwas more effective than the GLP for reducing AI, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), raising high density lipoprotein (HDL-C) (p < 0.01), reducing malondialdehyde (MDA) content, as well as increasing the glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in mice serum, increasing superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and reducing MDA content in liver (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). In addition, the histopathological observations of mice livers showed that GLPcould significantly improve lipid metabolism disorder in hepatocytes. Thus, GLPmight be tested as a more effective hypolipidemic drug.

Cordyceps militaris is the one of the most important medicinal mushrooms, widely used in East Asian countries. Polysaccharide is considered to be the principal active component in C. militaris and has a wide range of biological and pharmacological properties. This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of polysaccharide from C. militaris (PCM) on physical fatigue induced in animals through a forced swimming test. The mice were divided into 4 groups receiving 28 days' treatment with drinking water (exercise control) or low-, medium-, and high-dose PCM (40, 80, and 160 mg/kg/day, respectively). After 28 days, the mice were subjected to the forced swimming test; the exhaustive swimming time was measured and fatigue-related biochemical parameters, including serum lactic acid, urea nitrogen, creatine kinase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, superoxide dismutase, glutathi- one peroxidase, catalase, malondialdehyde, liver glycogen, and muscle glycogen, were analyzed. The results showed that PCM could significantly prolong the exhaustive swimming time of mice; decrease concentrations of serum lactic acid, urea nitrogen, creatine kinase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and malondialdehyde; and increase liver and muscle glycogen contents and the concentrations of serum superoxide dismutase, glutathione per- oxidase, and catalase. The data suggest that PCM has an antifatigue effect, and it might become a new functional food or medicine for fatigue resistance.

Morchella conica is a species of rare edible mushroom whose multiple medicinal functions have been proven. However, reports barely mention the mechanisms of these functions. In this study, the effects of two polysaccharides from M. conica (PMCs) on nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated macrophages were investigated. The results showed that 50-200μg/ml of the extracellular polysaccharide (EPMC) and 25-200 μg/ml of the intracellular polysaccharide (IPMC) significantly inhibited NO production. Accordingly, the signal mechanisms were also explored. It was found that 100 μg/ml of EPMC and 25 μg/ml of IPMC could efficiently down-regulate theinducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) DNA-binding activity and up-regulate heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) expression. Moreover, by using a HO-1 inhibitor NaPP to treat the cells, the PMC-inhibited NO production and iNOS expression, rather than NF-κB activation,were released partially, indicating that HO-1 probably medicates the inhibition of PMCs on iNOS and NO. Besides, EPMC also significantly suppressed the phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38), c-jun N-terminal kinase, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4, and expression ofNF-κB inducing kinase, while IPMC seemed to show no regular effect on p38. In conclusion, PMCs inhibited NO production in LPS-induced macrophages through regulating a series of signal pathways, suggesting that PMCs play a potential role on immunomodulation and treating related diseases.

In this study, the enzyme-assisted extraction of polysaccharides from Lentinus edodes (LEPs) was optimized by response surface methodology, and a preliminary characterization of the extracted LEPs and their anti-proliferative activities were investigated. An orthogonal assay was constructed to determine the optimal amounts of cellulase, papain and pectinase, which were 15, 20 and 15g/kg, respectively. Then effects of extraction conditions were evaluated and optimized using a Box-Behnken design. The results showed that the highest polysaccharides yield of 15.65% was achieved with an extraction temperature of 54°C, pH 5.0, enzymatic treatment time of 93min and a liquid/material ratio of 29:1mL/g, which correlated well with the predicted yield of 15.58%. Subsequently, the crude LEPs were further purified by DEAE-cellulose and Sephadex-100 chromatography to obtain two fractions, which were designated as LEP-1 and LEP-2 and their monosaccharide compositions were characterized by GC. Fourier-transform infrared spectra demonstrated that LEP-1 and LEP-2 were distinct from each other regarding their chemical structures. In addition, the LEPs exhibited inhibition of cell proliferation on HCT-116 and HeLa cells in vitro. In summary, this study provides an efficient enzyme-assisted extraction for LEPs, which can be used as natural antitumor agents in the pharmaceutical and functional food industries.

Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of malignant tumor of men worldwide and the incidence and mortality rate is gradually increasing. At present, the molecular mechanisms of growth and migration in human prostate cancer have not been completely elucidated. Studies have demonstrated that Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides (GLP) can inhibit cancer. Therefore the present study investigated the effect and molecular mechanism of GLP on cell growth and migration of LNCaP human prostate cancer cells. LNCaP cells were transfected with either a protein arginine methyltransferase 6 (PRMT6) overexpression plasmid or PRMT6 small interfering (si)RNA. The cell growth and migration, and the expression of PRMT6 signaling‑associated proteins, were investigated following treatment with 5 and 20 µg/ml GLP. The results demonstrated that GLP inhibited cell growth, induced cell cycle arrest, decreasedPRMT6, cyclin‑dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and steroid receptor coactivator, (SRC) expression, and increased p21 expression in LNCaP cells, as determined by using a Coulter counter, flow cytometry, and reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting, respectively. Furthermore, GLP significantly inhibited cell migration, as determined by Transwell migration and scratch assays, and altered CDK2, FAK, SRC and p21 expression in LNCaP cells transfected with the PRMT6 overexpression plasmid. By contrast, PRMT6 knockdown by siRNA reduced the effect of GLP on cell migration. These results indicate that GLP was effective in inhibiting cell growth, the cell cycle and cell migration, and the suppressive effect of GLP on cell migration may occur via the PRMT6 signaling pathway. Therefore, it is suggested that GLP may act as a tumor suppressor with applications in the treatment of prostate cancer. The results of the present study provide both the preliminary theoretical and experimental basis for the investigation of GLP as a therapeutic agent.

BACKGROUND/AIMS:We aimed to explore whether ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide (GLP) exhibits antitumor effect on cervical cancer cells.

METHODS AND RESULTS:Different concentration of GLP was used to treat cervical cell. The data from cell counting kit-8 assay proved that the optimal working concentration and time of GLP were 200µg/mL and treated for 48 h. The transwell assay demonstrated that GLP could attenuate the invasion and migration abilities of cervical cancer cells. Moreover, flow cytometry illustrated that GLP could promote the apoptosis of cervical cancer cells and limit the cycle of cervical cancer cells. Western blot assay discovered that the expression of proapoptosis proteins including Bax, Cleaved Caspases 3 and 9 increased and the antiapoptosis protein Bcl-2 decreased after treated with GLP. Moreover, we found that the expression of E-cadherin was increased, and N-cadherin, Vimentin, and Slug were decreased. Meanwhile, the expression of phosphorylated-JAK and phosphorylated-STAT5 was also decreased in cervical cancer cells treated by GLP, suggesting the inhibitory effect on JAK/STAT5 pathways.

CONCLUSIONS:All of these data illustrated that GLP could alleviate the activity and aggressiveness, block the cell cycle, and promote the apoptosis of cervical cancer cells, which were possible via inhibiting epithelial-mesenchymal and JAK/STAT5 pathways.

Ganoderma lucidum has featured in traditional Chinese medicine for>1,000 years. Ganoderma polysaccharides (GL-PS), a major active ingredient in Ganoderma, confer immune regulation, antitumor effects and significant antioxidant effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate the efficacy and mechanism of GL‑PS‑associated inhibition of ultraviolet B (UVB)‑induced photoaging in human fibroblasts in vitro. Primary human skin fibroblasts were cultured, and a fibroblast photoaging model was built through exposure to UVB. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay. Aged cells were stained using a senescence‑associated β-galactosidase staining (SA‑β‑gal) kit. ELISA kits were used to analyze matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) ‑1 and C‑telopeptides of Type I collagen (CICP) protein levels in cellular supernatant. ROS levels were quantified by flow cytometry. Cells exposed to UVB had decreased cell viability, increased aged cells, decreased CICP protein expression, increased MMP‑1 protein expression, and increased cellular ROS levels compared with non‑exposed cells. However, cells exposed to UVB and treated with 10, 20 and 40 µg/ml GL‑PS demonstrated increased cell viability, decreased aged cells, increased CICP protein expression, decreased MMP‑1 protein expression, and decreased cellular ROS levels compared with UVB exposed/GL‑PS untreated cells. These results demonstrate that GL‑PS protects fibroblasts against photoaging by eliminating UVB‑induced ROS. This finding indicates GL‑PS treatment may serve as a novel strategy for antiphotoaging.

Ganoderma sinense is one of well-known herb medicine and has been used for 2000 years in China. G. lucidum and G. sinense are two family members of Ganoderma, a genus of polypore fungi. In Chinese,"Lingzhi"is designated as G. lucidum or red"Lingzhi"whereas"Zizhi"as G. sinense or purple"Lingzhi."The polysaccharides or glycans extracted from both G. lucidum and G. sinense have been developed into clinical drugs and recorded in Chinese Pharmacopeia. G. lucidum polysaccharide (GLPS) is one of a few non-hormonal drugs used for treating neurosis, polymyositis, dermatomyositis, atrophic myotonia and muscular dystrophy in China during the past 40 years. In contrast, G. sinense polysaccharide (GSP) tablet is approved as an adjunctive therapeutic drug in China for treating leukopenia and hematopoietic injury caused by concurrent chemo/radiation therapy during cancer treatment by the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) in 2010.β-glucan, an established immunostimulanting polysaccharide, is one of the components in GSP. In this study, we will review the biological activities and preclinical studies of GSP in China based on literatures searches from CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), VIP (Chongqing VIP ChineseScientific Journals Database), Wanfang database, and PubMed database. Both basic and preclinical studies showed that GSP has antitumor, antioxidant, anticytopenia, and unique mushroom-poison detoxification properties that are different from that of GLPS. Our goal is to provide a molecular picture that would allow in-depth evaluation of GSP as one of few glycan-based drugs that has been used as an immunomodulatory adjunctive drug during cancer therapy.

BACKGROUND:Hericium erinaceus (HE) is a well-known mushroom in traditional Chinese food and medicine. HE extracts from the fruiting body and mycelia not only exhibit immunomodulatory, antimutagenic and antitumor activity but also have neuroprotective properties. Here, we purified HE polysaccharides (HEPS), composed of two high molecular weight polysaccharides (1.7 × 10(5) Da and 1.1 × 10(5) Da), and evaluated their protective effects on amyloid beta (Aβ)-induced neurotoxicity in rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells.

METHODS:HEPS were prepared and purified using a 95 % ethanol extraction method. The components of HEPS were analyzed and the molecular weights of the polysaccharides were determined using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The neuroprotective effects of the polysaccharides were evaluated through a 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and an MTT assay and by quantifying reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potentials (MMP) of Aβ-induced neurotoxicity in cells.

RESULT:Our results showed that 250 μg/ml HEPS was harmless and promoted cell viability with 1.2 μM Aβ treatment. We observed that the free radical scavenging rate exceeded 90 % when the concentration of HEPS was higher than 1 mg/mL in cells. The HEPS decreased the production of ROS from 80 to 58 % in a dose-dependent manner.Cell pretreatment with 250 μg/mL HEPS significantly reduced Aβ-induced high MMPs from 74 to 51 % and 94 to 62 % at 24 and 48 h, respectively. Finally, 250 μg/mL of HEPS prevented Aβ-induced cell shrinkage and nuclear degradation of PC12 cells.

CONCLUSION:Our results demonstrate that HEPS exhibit antioxidant and neuroprotective effects on Aβ-induced neurotoxicity in neurons.

Hericium erinaceus polysaccharide (HEP) has been shown to possess a variety of biological activities. In present study, HEP was successfully modified to obtain its hydroxyethylated derivative hHEP. Its potential immunomodulatory activities on RAW264.7 macrophages were investigated. Results showed that the hHEP were significantly stronger than that of the corresponding unmodified polysaccharide, HEP. Meanwhile, the NO, IL-6 and TNF-α production activities of macrophages were enhanced in the RAW264.7 macrophages by stimulation of hHEP. In addition, the hHEP increase significantly higher iNOS expression than HEP. These results indicated that the hydroxyethylated derivative hHEP could enhance the activation of peritoneal macrophages, and hydroxyethylation modification can enhance the immunomodulation function of HEP.

The present study explores the mechanisms underlying the anti-cancer action of Inonotus obliquus polysaccharides (IOP). Thus, we characterized the IOP components extracted from Chaga sclerotium and, found that the extracts contained 70% polysaccharides with an average molecular weight of 4.5 × 10 Da consisting of 75% glucose. We then showed that IOP extract activated AMPK in lung cancer cells expressing LKB1, suppressed cell viability, colony-formation, and triggered cell apoptosis. In conjunction, IOP downregulated Bcl-2, upregulated Bax, and enhanced cleavage of Caspase-3 and PARP. All of these effects were prevented by treatment with Compound C, a chemical inhibitor of AMPK. IOP diminished mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), concurrent with decreases in oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis, which was dependent on LKB1/AMPK. Finally, IOP at a dosage of 50 mg/kg significantly inhibited allograft tumor growth of the LLC1 cells in association with increased apoptosis. Collectively, our results demonstrate that IOP acts on cancer cells through a mechanism by which AMPK triggers the apoptotic pathway via the opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pore, and reducing MMP, leading to an inhibition of ATP production. Therefore, our study provides a solid foundation for the use of IOP as a promising alternative or supplementary medicine for cancer therapy.

The fruiting body of Hericium erinaceus has been used to treat digestive system disorder-related diseases for over 2000 years in China. A novel polysaccharide, HEFP-2b, was obtained from H. erinaceus fruiting bodies. Physical and chemical analysis showed that HEFP-2b consisted of fucose, galactose, glucose, and mannose in molar ratio of 11.81:22.82:44.28:21.09, and that its molecular weight was 3.252 × 10 Da. The backbone of HEFP-2b consisted of →6)-linked-α-D-Glcp-(1→ and →4)-β-D-Galp-(1→ and →3,6) -α-D-Manp linkage, with two side-branching units of (1→ and →6)-β-D-Galp and (1→ and →4)-α-D-Manp, terminated by Glc and Fuc. The results of the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and cell cycle arrest experiments revealed that HEFP-2b considerably inhibited the growth of colon cancer cells (HCT-116) in vitro. The growth inhibitory effects of HEFP-2b correlated with their ability to arrest the cell cycle at the S-phase. Our results willprovide valuable information for future studies on HEFP-2b as a novel health-promoting functional food ingredient that can be used for treating colon cancer.

SATB1 plays a crucial role in the invasion and metastasis of breast cancer,and inhibition of SATB1 expression can effectively control breast cancer metastasis. In this study,homogeneous polysaccharides were isolated from Poria cocos and their sulfated derivatives were prepared to screen out the polysaccharide compositions with inhibitory effects on SATB1 expression. Smal-molecule components were removed from P. cocos by ethanol extraction,and P. cocos crude polysaccharide PPS was obtained by water extraction and ethanol precipitation. Then PPS was successively separated by DEAE Sepharose fast flow anion-exchange and Superdex-75 gel permeation chromatographic steps to give PPSW-1. The structure of PPSW-1 was identified and its sulfated derivatives were prepared. Then their inhibitory effects on human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells were investigated. A kind of polysaccharide,PPSW-1 with inhibitory effect on human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells,was obtained from P. cocos,with a relative molecular weight of 3. 06×104,and structure of 1,6-branched 1,3-α-D-galactan. PPSW-1 and its sulfated derivative Sul-W-1 showed good inhibitory effect on cells migration,and the water solubility of Sul-W-1 was better than that of PPSW-1. In addition,it was found that polysaccharide of P. cocos and its sulfated derivativecan inhibit expression of SATB1. In this study,a kind of homogeneous polysaccharide with inhibitory effect on human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells was isolated from P. cocos,and its sulfated derivative with similar efficacy but better solubility was prepared,laying the foundation for the substance basis study of P. cocos.

Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disease that is caused by the abnormal expansion of CAG repeats in the gene encoding huntingtin (Htt). Reduced AKT phosphorylation and inhibited AKT activity have been shown to be involved in mutant Htt (mHtt)-induced cell death. Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP), the main bioactive component of Lycium barbarum, reportedly has neuroprotective roles in neural injuries, including neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we report that treatment with LBP can increased the viability of HEK293 cells that stably expressed mHtt containing 160 glutamine repeats and significantly improved motor behavior and life span in HD-transgenic mice. Furthermore, we found that in LBP-treated HEK293 cells expressing mHtt, mHtt levels were reduced and the phosphorylation of AKT at Ser473 (p-AKT-Ser473) was significantly increased. We also found that treatment with LBP increased p-AKT-Ser473 and decreased mHtt in the cortex, hippocampus and striatum in HD-transgenic mice. The level of phosphorylation of p-GSK3β-Ser9 remained unchanged in both cultured cells and HD-transgenic mice. Our findings suggest that LBP alleviates the cytotoxicity of mHtt by activating AKT and reducing mHtt levels, indicating that LBP may be potentially useful for treating HD.