Purification, structure and immunobiological activity of a water-soluble polysaccharide from the fruiting body of Pleurotus ostreatus

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2009-01, Vol.100 (2), p.983-986
• Main Authors: Sun, Yongxu, Liu, Jicheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; carbohydrate structure; Cells, Cultured; cultured cells; fruiting bodies; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; immune response; Lymphocyte Activation - physiology; Lymphocyte proliferation; lymphocytes; Lymphocytes - immunology; medicinal properties; NMR spectroscopy; Pleurotus - metabolism; Pleurotus ostreatus; Polysaccharide; polysaccharides; Polysaccharides - chemistry; Polysaccharides - immunology; Polysaccharides - metabolism; Solubility; spectral analysis; spleen; Structural analysis; Water - chemistry
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2008.06.036

The water-soluble polysaccharide (POP), with a molecular mass of 2.4×104Da, was obtained from the fruiting body of Pleurotus ostreatus. Structure features of the purified polysaccharide were investigated by a combination of chemical and instrumental analysis, such as methylation analysis, Smith degradation, GC-MS, 13C and 1H NMR and FTIR. The results indicated that the backbone of POP was composed of (1→6)-linked-α-d-galactopyranosyl and (1→2,6)-linked-α-d-galactopyranosyl residues, which were terminated with a single terminal (1→)-β-d-glucose residue at the O-2 position of galactosyl along the main chain in the ratio of 1:1:1. Preliminary tests in vitro showed POP is capable of enhancing concanavalin A (ConA)- or lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lymphocyte proliferation, which suggested that POP could be a potential immunostimulating agent for use in functional foods or medicine against both pathogens and cancer.