Cytoprotective effects of fucoidan, an algae-derived polysaccharide on 5-fluorouracil-treated dendritic cells.
Although chemotherapeutic anticancer agents are effective, they also attack normal immune cells due to a lack of selectivity. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is a representative anticancer agent that induces immunosuppression in cancer patients as a side effect. Fucoidan is an algae-derived sulfated polysaccharide that has recently been recognized as a hematopoietic mobilizer and immunomodulator. In this study, we investigated the cytoprotective effect of fucoidan on dendritic cells (DCs) against 5-FU-induced cellular damage. Several kinds of assays including flow cytometric analysis demonstrated the cytoprotective efficacy of fucoidan. In addition, fucoidan increased the expression of immune-related surface markers on and the alloproliferative capacity of DCs exposed to 5-FU. For investigating action mechanism, the expression levels of apoptosis-related molecules were measured. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that fucoidan, a marine-derived polysaccharide, has cytoprotective effects on DCs, the most potent antigen-presenting cell type, against 5-FU-induced cellular damage. These results provide valuable information to use fucoidan as an immunostimulatory agent for the chemotherapy of cancer patients.
College of Veterinary Medicine, Jeju National University, Jeju 690-756, Republic of Korea.
Bo-Eun
BE
Jeong
Eun-Ju
EJ
Ko
Hong-Gu
HG
Joo
D000818:Animals; D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000633:toxicity*; D017209:Apoptosis; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000187:drug effects*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000633:toxicity*; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007959:Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D058086:Microalgae / Q000737:chemistry*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects
D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D011134:Polysaccharides; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D018664:Interleukin-12; C007789:fucoidan; D005472:Fluorouracil