Characterization and macrophages immunomodulatory activity of two water-soluble polysaccharides from .

The study aims to elucidate the physicochemical properties and immunomodulatory activity of two polysaccharides (ACP and ACP ) from . Results revealed that ACP with a molecular weight of 26.0 kDa, was mainly composed of glucose (83.1%) and galactose (6.1%), and that ACP with a molecular weight of 145.6/8.9 kDa, consisted of galactose (25.6%), galacturonic acid (22.2%), arabinos (16.6%) and galactose (11.0%) respectively. AFM and Congo red experiments suggested that ACP and ACP might be spherical particles with triple-helix conformation in aqueous solution. ACP and ACP exhibited immunomodulatory activity by promoting the proliferation, augmenting pinocytic and phagocytic capacities, releasing immunoactive molecules such as ROS, NO, iNOS, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β, upregulation of the mRNA levels of corresponding cytokines in macrophages. Moreover, ACP and ACP were recognized by toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and exerted immunomodulatory effects via activating Myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88), mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and serine/threonine kinase (Akt) signaling pathways in macrophages. Notably, ACP had higher immunomodulatory activity than ACP . Based on the present findings, ACP and ACP could be explored as an active component of immunomodulators in the food and pharmaceutical fields.