Carboxymethylated derivatives were prepared from the (1→3)-β-ᴅ-glucan isolated from the cell wall of baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and from the chitin-glucan complex of the mycelium of the industrial filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger. The polysaccharides were applied to peritoneal mouse macrophages and after a 2-h incubation the release of TNF-α by the stimulated macrophages was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. As the third polysaccharide stimulant, a water-soluble derivative of chitin was assayed and the observed cytokine release was compared with the control experiment. In three concentrations of the polysaccharides applied, carboxymethyl glucan revealed a dramatic increase in the TNF-α release, while addition of carboxymethyl chitin-glucan resulted only in a moderate enhancement, and carboxymethyl chitin was inactive. The results indicate that fungal polysaccharides, especially (1→3)-β-ᴅ-glucan, are potent macrophage stimulators and activators of TNF-α release, which implies their potential application in antitumor therapy.
© 1946 – 2014: Verlag der Zeitschrift für Naturforschung
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.