title: Antitumor activity of degraded products of lentinan: its correlation with molecular weight.
abstract: Lentinan, an antitumor polysaccharide from Lentinus edodes, was degraded to seven fractions by treatment with formic acid. The low molecular-weight fractions (I and II) showed no antitumor activity against sarcoma-180 solid-type tumor and the absorption maximum of Congo Red did not shift in their presence in 0.1M sodium hydroxide. The medium molecular-weight fraction III, which required the increase of doses (5 or 10 mg/kg) for inhibition of tumor growth, caused a little shift. On the other hand, the absorption maximum of Congo Red shifted largely by the presence of high molecular-weight fractions (IV approximately VII) which showed the inhibition ratio of over 95% in a dose of 1 mg/kg. Participation of molecular weight in the antitumor activity of polysaccharides which contain (1 leads to 3)-beta-D-glucan main chain was discussed.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005591:Chemical Fractionation; D005561:Formates; D007912:Lentinan / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051379:Mice; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009904:Optical Rotation; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D012510:Sarcoma 180 / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D005561:Formates; D011134:Polysaccharides; D007912:Lentinan