Structural characterization of polysaccharides from Saposhnikovia divaricata and their antagonistic effects against the immunosuppression by the culture supernatants of melanoma cells on RAW264.7 macrophages

Abstract

Two purified native polysaccharides, namely, SDNP-1 and SDNP-2 with apparent molecular weight of 67.9×103 and 5.2×103, separately, were isolated from the water extract of Saposhnikovia divaricata by combined ion-exchange and gel permeation chromatography. The structures of these polysaccharides were characterized by high-performance gel permeation chromatography, chemical derivative analysis, GC–MS, FT-IR spectroscopy, and NMR spectroscopy. Results showed that SDNP-1 and SDNP-2 were composed of arabinose and galactose with molar ratio of approximately 1:1. The polysaccharides were deduced to be AGII-type arabinogalactans with distinct molecular weights and backbone chains. The backbone chain of SDNP-2 mainly consisted of (1→3)-linked and (1→6)-linked Galp residues with an approximate molar ratio of 1:3. Approximately half of the (1→6)-linked Galp residues were substituted at O-3, and small amounts of (1→6)-linked Galp were substituted at O-3 and O-4 by branches that mainly consisted of terminal and (1→5)-linked Araf residues. Bioactivity tests showed that SDNP-2 exhibited significant antagonistic effect against immunosuppression as shown by the cell viability of the culture supernatants of melanoma cells on RAW264.7 macrophages. However, SDNP-1 showed no effect. Thus, molecular weight and backbone chain may be the key factors for the antagonistic effects against immunosuppression.