Polysaccharides from Umbilicaria esculenta cultivated in Huangshan Mountain and immunomodulatory activity

Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin

et al. 2018

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive skin cancers with an increasing rate of morbidity. Umbilicaria esculenta is an edible lichen and its main component of extracts-polysaccharide (PUE) has shown significant antitumor effects in a variety of cancer types such as stomach adenocarcinoma. However, whether it has an anti-melanoma effect and the underlying mechanism has not been revealed. In this article, we showed that PUE extracted from Umbilicaria esculenta could inhibit the growth of A875 and A375 melanoma cells but without obvious toxicity to normal vascular endothelial cells. The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in A875 cells was significantly elevated when treated with PUE for 24h. In addition, the expression of caspase-3 and -9 also increased as compared to the controlled group which resulted in the apoptosis of A875 melanoma cells. In the meantime, when pre-treated with N-acetylcysteine (NAC), the ROS scavenger, PUE induced apoptosis and cell death could be reversed via suppression of elevated generation of ROS and ROSmediated caspase-9 expression. In summary, our study demonstrated that PUE extracts from Umbilicaria esculenta have a potent anti-melanoma effect through the induction of ROS and caspases-3 and -9. It could provide a promising strategy of melanoma therapy with the components from the extracts of natural and edible plants such as lichen Umbilicaria esculenta. Key words Umbilicaria esculenta; extract; melanoma; reactive oxygen species; caspaseMelanoma is a malignancy notorious for its tendency of rapid metastasis and high mortality. It has been reported that over 76000 newly diagnosed cases of melanoma and nearly 9710 melanoma-related deaths were estimated in the United States in 2014.1) The incidence worldwide of melanoma is 15-25 per 100000 individuals. Although the proportion of melanoma in skin tumors is less than 5%, melanoma accounts for up to 75% of the deaths caused by all skin cancers.2) Chemotherapeutics such as Dacarbazine (DTIC) and immunotherapy (high-dose interleukin-2 and interferon-α) have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for melanoma treatment. Unfortunately, low response rates (ca. 15%), severe adverse effects as well as no improvement on overall survival (OS) limited their clinical application.3,4) The emergence of targeted therapy such as BRAF and mitogen-activated protein extracellular kinase (MEK) inhibitors, and immune checkpoint blockade such as anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibodies marked great breakthrough in the management of patients with advanced melanoma.5,6) However, it is also not satisfied that, although these small targeted molecules have been proved to improve patients' QOL to some extent, adverse events such as pyrexia, photosensitivity and secondary cutaneous squamous-cell carcinomas and drug resistance which developed in about half of patients within several months treatment limited their effects. [7][8][9] Due to the characteristics of good efficacy, safety, and less toxicity to normal body tissues and organs, th...

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Polysaccharide Extracted from <i>Umbilicaria esculenta</i> Inhibits Proliferation of Melanoma Cells through ROS-Activated Mitochondrial Apoptosis Pathway

Sun

Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin

et al. 2018

“…About 1020 mg of TFS and TFS/LTS mixtures were ground with about 100 mg KBr powder, and then pressed into pellets for infrared scanning ranges from 4000 to 400 cm −1 [23].…”

Section: Ft-ir Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Studies on the Physicochemical and Processing Properties of Tremella fuciformis Powder

Zuo

International Journal of Food Engineering

et al. 2018

Self Cite

Abstract:Tremella fuciformis is edible and medicinal food since ancient times in China. In this article, the physicochemical and processing properties of Tremella fuciformis powder (TFS) and synergistic interaction with Lotus seed powder (LTS) in aqueous solution were investigated. The elemental compositions of TFS were 1.71 % N, 47.21 % O, 40.35 % C, 6.25 % H and 0.20 % S. Aspartic and Glutamic acids were the major amino acids in TFS for taken about 0.91 % and 1.12 %. TFS dispersion couldn't form a gel structure at all selected concentrations until the ratio of TFS: LTS was 1:1 at a total concentration of 36 mg/mL. The network strength of TFS/LTS dispersions increased with the total powder concentrations increased during continuous heating from 25°C to 70°C. Gluten, amorphous and crystalline regions, and amorphous starch were observed in mixtures TFS/LTS compared with TFS. TFS/LTS had a more concavo-convex microstructure than TFS due to starch gelatinization in LTS.

“…Polysaccharides are found in animal cell membranes and cell walls of plants and microorganisms [1–5], and are compound of saccharide monomers linked through glycosidic bonds formed through their aldehyde and keto groups [6]. They are essential biological macromolecules, and are directly involved in life processes, exhibiting a variety of important biological functions [2, 7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Umbilicaria esculenta is a precious edible and medicinal lichen, and has been employed in traditional Chinese medicine for several centuries [1] to treat inflammation, bleeding, and poisoning. The polysaccharide components of U .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Structure Elucidation of a Polysaccharide from Umbilicaria esculenta and Its Immunostimulatory Activity

et al. 2016

PLoS ONE

Self Cite

Umbilicaria esculenta has been used as a tonic food in China for several centuries owing to its pleasant flavor and health benefits. In this study, a water soluble polysaccharide, which we designated as UP2, with an average molecular weight of 3.33 × 105 Da, was isolated from U. esculenta cultivated in the Huangshan Mountain, by consecutive hot water extraction and anion-exchange chromatography. Gas chromatography analysis indicated that UP2 contained three kinds of monosaccharides, including mannose, glucose, and galactose at a molar ratio of 1.7:1.0:1.2. Linkage analysis of UP2 revealed the presence of (1 → 6)-linked glucosyl, (1 → 3,6)-linked glucosyl, t-linked galactosyl, (1 → 6)-linked galactosyl and (1 → 6)-linked mannosyl at a molar ratio of 0.7:4.6:4.1:2.2:9.1. Structural analysis determined that UP2 possessed a backbone consisting of (1 → 6)-linked β-D-glucopyranosyl and (1 → 6)-linked α-D-mannopyranosyl residues, which substituted at the O-3 position of (1 → 6)-linked β-D-glucopyranosyl residues by branches of (1 → 6)-linked α-D-galactopyranosyl and 1-linked β-D-galactopyranosyl residues. Immunostimulatory activity analysis showed that UP2 could stimulate the proliferation of RAW264.7 cells in a dose-dependent manner, and all the samples (20–500 μg/mL) were found to enhance nitric oxide production. The highest phagocytic activity of UP2 was observed at 200 μg/mL. Thus, UP2 may be a potential source of biological and pharmacological agents.