Boschniakia Rossica Polysaccharide Triggers Laryngeal Carcinoma Cell Apoptosis by Regulating Expression of Bcl-2, Caspase-3, and P53.

BACKGROUND Laryngeal cancer is a malignant head and neck tumor with high morbidity and high mortality in humans. Recently, treatments with Chinese medicines and their extracts have gradually received great attention, and studies suggest that Boschniakia rossica polysaccharide (BRP) has potential anti-tumor activity. Therefore, this study investigating the role of BRP in inducing apoptosis in human laryngeal carcinoma cells. MATERIAL AND METHODS The BRP was extracted with organic solvent and HR column. We treated Hep2 laryngeal carcinoma cells with different concentrations of BRP, then assessed cell growth inhibition rate by flow cytometry and apoptosis index by TUNEL staining. The protein expression of p53, Bcl-2, Bax, and caspase-3 were analyzed by Western blot. RESULTS Flow cytometry results showed that BRP inhibited Hep2 cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.05), and TUNEL staining indicated that BRP significantly increased Hep2 apoptosis index (p<0.05). Western blot results showed that the expression levels of p53 and activation of caspase-3 in Hep2 cells were significantly up-regulated (p<0.05), while the expression of Bcl-2 was significantly down-regulated (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS BRP might induce cell apoptosis by regulating the expression level of cell apoptosis-associated proteins, suggesting strong anti-laryngeal cancer activity.

Rice bran polysaccharides and oligosaccharides modified by Grifola frondosa fermentation: Antioxidant activities and effects on the production of NO.

Rice bran polysaccharides (RBPSs) are valuable compounds with many biological activities. In this work, a fungus called Grifola frondosa, was selected to ferment defatted rice bran water extracts and modify the RBPSs, which were then isolated by ethanol precipitation and deproteinization. GC analysis of fermented products suggested they are composed of glucose, arabinose, galactose, mannose, and xylose at a molar ratio of 9:5:8:2:5, which was 32:4:6:2:5 before fermentation. HPLC analysis revealed that the molecular weight of unfermented RBPS was distributed mainly from 103 to 104Da, and it changed to 102 to 103Da after fermentation. Antioxidant activities and effects on the production of NO were analyzed and it indicated that the scavenging ratios of hydroxyl and DPPH radicals by the fermented products were significantly enhanced compared to the unfermented ones, and also the products fermented for 9days exhibited two-way adjusting effects on the production of NO in macrophages.