Antitumor Active Protein-containing Glycans from the Body of Ganoderma tsugae

To explore the effects of traditional herbal medicine Ganoderma tsugae(G. tsugae) on immunomodulatory and antitumor activities, the crude polysaccharides of G. tsugae were purified by filtration, diethylaminoethyl(DEAE) sepharose-fast flow chromatography and sephadex G-100 size-exclusion chromatography. Two main fractions, protein-containing glycans CSSLP-1 and CSSLP-2, were obtained via the gradient elution. The protein content, molecular weight, and monosaccharide composition of the two fractions were analyzed. Furthermore, the influence of the protein-containing glycans from G. tsugae on the activation of human acute monocytic leukemia cell line(THP-1) and their antitumor activities to the human hepatocellular liver carcinoma cell(HepG-2) in vitro were evaluated. The results indicate that CSSLP-1 and CSSLP-2 could increase the pinocytic activity of THP-1 cells and induce THP-1 cells to produce the cytokines of TNF alpha and IL-2, significantly. CSSLP-1 and CSSLP-2 also played an inhibiting effect on the cancer cell(HepG-2). Moreover, the anti-proliferation activity of CSSLP-1 and CSSLP-2 increased with the participation of TNF alpha and IL-2 or other antitumor factors induced from THP-1 cells by G. tsugae protein-containing glycan fractions.