Extraction and Isolation of Two Polysaccharides from Chloranthus japonicus Sieb. and Evaluation of Their Anti-Gastric Cancer Activities

TL;DR

This study isolates two new polysaccharides from Chloranthus japonicus and finds they inhibit gastric cancer cell growth, with one showing stronger effects.

Contribution

The discovery and characterization of two novel polysaccharides with anti-gastric cancer activity from Chloranthus japonicus.

Findings

YCJP–1 and YCJP–2 significantly inhibit the proliferation of MGC-803 and AGS gastric cancer cells.

AGS cells are more sensitive to the polysaccharides than MGC-803 cells.

YCJP–2 shows stronger anti-gastric cancer effects than YCJP–1 due to higher glucose content and narrower molecular weight distribution.

Abstract

Two unreported heteropolysaccharides, denoted as YCJP–1 and YCJP–2, were isolated from the herbs of Chloranthus japonicus. YCJP–1 was a heteropolysaccharide composed of glucose, galactose, arabinose, mannose, rhamnose, and a minor proportion of uronic acids, with the molecular weight mainly distributed in the 74,475–228,443 Da range. YCJP–2 was mainly composed of glucose, mannose, and galactose, with the molecular weights ranging from 848 to 5810 Da. To further evaluate the anti-gastric cancer effects of C. japonicus, the inhibitory effects of the crude polysaccharide (YCJP) and the purified polysaccharides (YCJP–1 and YCJP–2) were determined using a CCK-8 assay and colon-forming assay on MGC-803 and AGS gastric cancer cell lines. Our results showed that YCJP, YCJP–1, and YCJP–2 possess prominent inhibitory effects on the proliferation of MGC-803 and AGS cells, and the AGS cell was more sensitive to YCJP, YCJP–1, and YCJP–2. Moreover, YCJP–2 demonstrated superior anti-gastric cancer effects compared to YCJP–1. This could potentially be attributed to YCJP–2’s higher glucose content and narrower molecular weight distribution.

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