title: Hematopoietic and myeloprotective activities of an acidic Angelica sinensis polysaccharide on human CD34+ stem cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Angelica sinensis (AS) is a Chinese herbal medicine traditionally used in prescriptions for replenishing blood and treating abnormal menstruation and other women's diseases.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to separate and identify the major hematopoietic fraction from Angelica sinensis polysaccharides (ASPS), and to investigate the myeloprotective activity of the major bioactive fraction of ASPS as a possible supporting agent for cancer treatments.
  
  
  METHODS
  The ASPS was fractionated with DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B column to obtain four fractions (F1, F2, F3 and F4). Each fraction was cultured with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNCs) to collect conditioned medium (CM). The hematopoietic ability of various MNC-CM was then evaluated by the colony-forming assay on CD34(+) cells collected by the MACS method from human umbilical cord blood (UCB). In myeloprotective experiment, Adriblastina was used to act as the myelosuppressive agent. The monosaccharide composition of ASPS was analyzed by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography-pulse amperometric detector.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The F2 fraction, which was found to have the highest hematopoietic activity, stimulated the human peripheral blood MNCs to secret GM-CSF and IL-3. F2 could also protect the hematopoietic function of CD34(+) cells from Adriblastina. F2 occupies 19% of ASPS and contains 0.53% protein. The monosaccharide composition of F2 was arabinose (51.82%), fructose (1.65%), galactose (29.96%), glucose (4.78%) and galacturonic acid (14.80%), with molecular weight 2.5-295 kDa.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The bioactive fraction identified and fractionated from ASPS may be used as a health-promoting agent for anemia patients and cancer patients under chemoradiation treatment.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Food Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ji-Gua
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Wen-Ting
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Shee-Uan
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Been-Huang
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Chiang
mesh_terms: D029971:Angelica sinensis / Q000737:chemistry*; D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018952:Antigens, CD34 / Q000378:metabolism; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005312:Fetal Blood; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D006397:Hematinics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007377:Interleukin-3 / Q000378:metabolism; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000378:metabolism; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D018952:Antigens, CD34; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D006397:Hematinics; D007377:Interleukin-3; D010936:Plant Extracts; D011134:Polysaccharides; D004317:Doxorubicin; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor