A polysaccharide from Agaricus blazei inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis of osteosarcoma cells

Many reports have proved that traditional Chinese herbal medicines (TCM) have become popular used in disease prevention and as alternatives to cancer chemotherapy. In this study, we purified a polysaccharide (ABP-Ia) from the fruiting bodies of Agaricus blazei and identified its molecular weight to be 4.2 × 105 Da. ABP-Ia was a heteropolysaccharide fraction consisting of glucose, mannose, and galactose in a molar ratio of 1:1:1, along with trace of rhamnose. The effect of ABP-Ia at three concentrations of 100, 200 and 400 μg/mL on the cell growth and apoptosis was evaluated in osteosarcoma cell lines HOS and a normal human osteoblast cell line NHOst. ABP-Ia had a significant inhibitory effect against the growth of HOS cells, whereas a mild cytotoxicity to the HOS cells mediated by ABP-Ia was observed, which was in accordance with the results that ABP-Ia substantially induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent fashion in the HOS cells. However ABP-Ia had no or minor inhibitory and cytotoxic effects on the viability of NHOst cells even at the high concentration of 400 μg/mL. Base on all the observations, we could conclude that ABP-Ia had an evident inhibitory effect on the growth of HOS cells mainly through induction of apoptosis, with a minor toxicity to normal human osteoblast cell.

► A polysaccharide (ABP-Ia) was purified from the fruiting bodies of Agaricus blazei.
► A combination of chemical and physical method was applied to elucidate its physicochemical properties.
► ABP-Ia had a significant inhibitory effect against the growth of HOS cells.
► ABP-Ia substantially induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent fashion in the HOS cells.
► ABP-Ia had minor inhibitory and cytotoxic effect on the viability of NHOst cells.