title: Composition of Lycium barbarum polysaccharides and their apoptosis-inducing effect on human hepatoma SMMC-7721 cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) is a natural functional component that has a variety of biological activities. The molecular structures and apoptosis-inducing activities on human hepatoma SMMC-7721 cells of two LBP fractions, LBP-d and LBP-e, were investigated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that LBP-d and LBP-e both consist of protein, uronic acid, and neutral sugars in different proportions. The structure of LBP was characterized by gas chromatography, periodate oxidation, and Smith degradation. LBP-d was composed of eight kinds of monosaccharides (fucose, ribose, rhamnose, arabinose, xylose, mannose, galactose, and glucose), while LBP-e was composed of six kinds of monosaccharides (fucose, rhamnose, arabinose, mannose, galactose, and glucose). LBP-d and LBP-e blocked SMMC-7721 cells at the G0/G1 and S phases with an inhibition ratio of 26.70 and 45.13%, respectively, and enhanced the concentration of Ca(2+) in the cytoplasm of SMMC-7721.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The contents of protein, uronic acid, and galactose in LBP-e were much higher than those in LBP-d, which might responsible for their different bioactivities. The results showed that LBP can be provided as a potential chemotherapeutic agent drug to treat cancer.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety (Tianjin University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China.|Department of Biological and Food Engineering, Tianshi College, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety (Tianjin University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety (Tianjin University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety (Tianjin University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety (Tianjin University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Anguo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety (Tianjin University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety (Tianjin University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China; zm0102@sina.com.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: Lycium barbarum polysaccharide; [Ca2+]i; apoptosis; cell cycle; hepatoma SMMC-7721 cells; structure