Polysaccharides isolated from Ganoderma bambusicola: Structural characterization and in vitro bioactivities

Area of Science:

• Mycology
• Pharmacology
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Ganoderma species are recognized for their medicinal properties, particularly polysaccharides with potential anticancer effects.
• Research into Ganoderma polysaccharides for adjuvant cancer therapy is ongoing, but many species remain underexplored.
• Ganoderma bambusicola represents a novel source for investigating bioactive compounds in cancer treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To isolate and characterize novel polysaccharides from Ganoderma bambusicola.
• To evaluate the cytotoxic and antitumor activities of these isolated polysaccharides against various cancer cell lines.
• To explore the potential of Ganoderma bambusicola polysaccharides as a complementary approach in cancer therapy.

Main Methods:

• Isolation of three novel polysaccharides (GBP-1, GBP-2, GBP-3) from Ganoderma bambusicola.
• Structural elucidation using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, methylation analysis, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
• Assessment of cytotoxicity and antitumor effects using the cell-counting kit-8 assay on HepG2, A549, HT-29, and SGC-7901/DDP cell lines.

Main Results:

• GBP-1 and GBP-2 were identified as galactoglycans with α-(1,6)-Galp backbones.
• GBP-3 was characterized as a glucan with a triple-helix conformation.
• All three polysaccharides exhibited concentration-dependent cytotoxic effects; GBP-3 showed the most potent antitumor activity (75% cell viability reduction at 400 μg/mL), surpassing GBP-1 and GBP-2 (45% reduction).

Conclusions:

• Ganoderma bambusicola is a promising source of novel polysaccharides with significant antitumor potential.
• GBP-3, the glucan with a triple-helix structure, demonstrates superior cytotoxic activity compared to the galactoglycans GBP-1 and GBP-2.
• These findings suggest that Ganoderma bambusicola polysaccharides could be valuable agents in adjuvant cancer therapy, potentially by modulating the tumor microenvironment.