Structural characterization and stimulating effect on osteoblast differentiation of a purified heteropolysaccharide isolated from Hedysarum polybotrys

Radix Hedysari polysaccharides (HPS) is the principal active fraction of Radix Hedysari (RH). The information about HPS3d, the main fraction of HPS3, and its effect on bone is still unknown. In the present study, the purified HPS3d was obtained by anion-exchange column. It consisted of 94.38% polysaccharide, 3.40% protein and 13.30% uronic acid. The molecular weight was measured to be 84.6 kDa. The backbone consisted of galactopyranose and galacturonopyranose, and the side chains were composed of glucopyranose, rhamnopyranose and arabinofuranose. The FT-IR and elemental analysis showed that HPS3d was the sulfated polysaccharide. HPS3d upregulated alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and the expression of other osteogenic marker genes in osteoblast. In addition, HPS3d increased the expression and transcriptional activity of Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx-2) and Osterix, the two master genes of osteoblast differentiation. These findings suggest that HPS3d stimulates osteoblast differentiation by activation of Runx-2 and Osterix.