Frontiers in Nutrition (Jul 2022)

Anti-cancer Potential of Polysaccharide Extracted From Polygonatum sibiricum on HepG2 Cells via Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis

  • Mo Li,
  • Mo Li,
  • Yumeng Liu,
  • Henan Zhang,
  • Yanfeng Liu,
  • Weiming Wang,
  • Shengbo You,
  • Xinyu Hu,
  • Meijun Song,
  • Rina Wu,
  • Junrui Wu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.938290
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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Polygonatum sibiricum is one of the most widely used traditional Chinese medicine in China. Polygonatum sibiricum polysaccharide (PSP) is the main functional component of Polygonatum sibiricum. In this study, a water-soluble polysaccharide (PSP-1) was first isolated from Polygonatum sibiricum with a molecular weight of 38.65 kDa. Structural analysis was performed via methylation and FT-IR spectroscopy analyses, which in combination with NMR spectroscopy, revealed that PSP-1 has a → 4-α-D-Glcp-1 → backbone with the substitution at O-6 with the β-D-Glcp-1 → residues. Furthermore, PSP-1 exhibited potent and concentration-dependent anticancer effects, inducing HepG2 cell apoptosis and arresting the cell cycle at the G1 phase. Moreover, PSP-1 also decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential, damaged the nucleus of HepG2 cells, and increased the activity of caspase-9 and−3 in the intrinsic apoptotic pathways to induce HepG2 cell apoptosis. To conclude, PSP-1 might be a good candidate for the treatment of liver cancer, and this work provides important information for understanding the relationship between structure and antitumor activity of PSP-1, which is relevant for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma in clinic.

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