title: Anti-tumor effect of β-glucan from Lentinus edodes and the underlying mechanism.
abstract: β-Glucans are well known for its various bioactivities, but the underlying mechanism has not been fully understood. This study focuses on the anti-tumor effect and the potential mechanism of a branched β-(1, 3)-glucan (LNT) extracted from Lentinus edodes. The in vivo data indicated that LNT showed a profound inhibition ratio of ~75% against S-180 tumor growth, even significantly higher than the positive control of Cytoxan (~54%). Interestingly, LNT sharply promoted immune cells accumulation into tumors accompanied by cell apoptosis and inhibition of cell proliferation during tumor development. Furthermore, LNT not only up-regulated expressions of the tumor suppressor p53, cell cycle arrestin p21 and pro-apoptotic proteins of Bax and caspase 3/9, but also down-regulated PARP1 and anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 expressions in tumor tissues. It was first found that LNT initiated p53-dependent signaling pathway to suppress cell proliferation in vitro, and the caspase-dependent pathway to induce cell apoptosis in vivo. The underlying anti-tumor mechanism was proposed that LNT activated immune responses to induce cell apoptosis through caspase 3-dependent signaling pathway and to inhibit cell proliferation possibly via p53-dependent signaling pathway in vivo. Besides, LNT inhibited angiogenesis by suppressing VEGF expression, leading to slow progression of tumors.
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
authors.forename: Siwei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017209:Apoptosis; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D018925:Chemokines / Q000378:metabolism; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D005260:Female; D062610:Fungal Polysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000517:prevention & control; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D020942:Shiitake Mushrooms / Q000737:chemistry*; D047071:beta-Glucans / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D018925:Chemokines; D062610:Fungal Polysaccharides; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor; C494087:Stat3 protein, mouse; D047071:beta-Glucans; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; C505407:CASP3 protein, human; D053148:Caspase 3