Phellinus igniarius (PI) has various kinds of biological activities, such as antitumour activities, and polysaccharides are one of its main components. In this study, polysaccharides from PI (PIP) were prepared, purified, analysed for their structure and investigated for their antitumour activity and mechanism in vitro. PIP consists of 12138 kDa of carbohydrates containing 90.5±1.6% neutral carbohydrates. PIP consists of glucose, galactose , mannose , xylose, D-fructose , L-guluronic acid, glucosamine hydrochloride , rhamnose , arabinose and D-mannoturonic acid . PIP can significantly inhibit HepG2 cell proliferation, induce cell apoptosis and also inhibited migration and invasion in a concentration-dependent manner. PIP increased reactive oxygen species (ROS), reduced mitochondrial membrane potential, increased the expression of p53, and induced cytochrome c release into the cytoplasm to activate caspase-3. PIP is a promising potential candidate for the therapeutic treatment of hepatic carcinoma via the ROS-mediated mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.

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