Characterization and cytotoxic activity of sulfated derivatives of polysaccharides from Agaricus brasiliensis

Agaricus brasiliensis cell-wall polysaccharides isolated from fruiting body (FR) and mycelium (MI) and their respective sulfated derivatives (FR-S and MI-S) were chemically characterized using elemental analysis, TLC, FT-IR, NMR, HPLC, and thermal analysis. Cytotoxic activity was evaluated against A549 tumor cells by MTT and sulforhodamine assays. The average molecular weight (Mw) of FR and MI was estimated to be 609 and 310 kDa, respectively. FR-S (127 kDa) and MI-S (86 kDa) had lower Mw, probably due to hydrolysis occurring during the sulfation reaction. FR-S and MI-S presented ~14% sulfur content in elemental analysis. Sulfation of samples was characterized by the appearance of two new absorption bands at 1253 and 810 cm−1 in the infrared spectra, related to SO and CSO sulfate groups, respectively. Through 1H and 13C NMR analysis FR-S was characterized as a (1→6)-(1→3)-β-d-glucan fully sulfated at C-4 and C-6 terminal and partially sulfated at C-6 of (1→3)-β-d-glucan moiety. MI-S was shown to be a (1→3)-β-d-gluco-(1→2)-β-d-mannan, partially sulfated at C-2, C-3, C-4, and C-6, and fully sulfated at C-6 of the terminal residues. The combination of high degree of sulfation and low molecular weight was correlated with the increased cytotoxic activity (48 h of treatment) of both FR-S (EC50 = 605.6 μg/mL) and MI-S (EC50 = 342.1 μg/mL) compared to the non-sulfated polysaccharides FR and MI (EC50 > 1500 μg/mL).