Antitumor activity of Paecilomyces tenuipes polysaccharide and its mechanism in vitro

AIM:To investigate the antitumor activity and mechanism of Paecilomyces tenuipes polysaccharide(PTPS).METHODS:PTPS-I was obtained by water extraction and alcohol precipitation, and purified by DEAE-cellulose and Sephadex G-100 chromatography. Human erythroleukemia cell line K562, laryngocarcinoma cell line Hep2 and hepatic carcinoma cell line SMMC-7721were co-cultured with PTPS-I or the conditioned medium which prepared with PTPS-I-stimulated human mononuclear cells (PTPS-I-MNC-CM), and the proliferation of tumor cells was determined. The cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) was used to determine the proliferation of MNCs. The FQ-RT-PCR was applied to investigate the expression of TNF-α and IL-6 mRNA in MNCs. RESULTS:PTPS-I-MNC-CM inhibited the proliferation of K562, Hep2 and SMMC-7721 cells in vitro (P<0.01). Cytotoxicity of PTPS-I against K562, Hep2 and SMMC-7721 cells was not observed (P<0.01). PTPS-I stimulated the proliferation of MNCs (P<0.01) and significantly enhanced the expression of TNF-α and IL-6 mRNA in MNCs (P<0.05, P<0.01). CONCLUSION:The results suggest that PTPS-I is an immunomodulator and its antitumoral activity is through the immunomodulatory mechanism rather than the direct cytotoxicity against tumor cells.