Cartilage polysaccharide induces apoptotic cell death of L1210 cells

Anticancer polysaccharides from natural resources: a review of recent research

Taking into account the rising trend of the incidence of cancers of various organs, effective therapies are urgently needed to control human malignancies. However, almost all of the chemotherapy drugs currently on the market cause serious side effects. Fortunately, several previous studies have shown that some non-toxic biological macromolecules, including polysaccharides and polysaccharide-protein complexes, possess anti-cancer activities or can increase the efficacy of conventional chemotherapy drugs. Based on these encouraging observations, a great deal of effort has been focused on discovering anti-cancer polysaccharides and complexes for the development of effective therapeutics for various human cancers. This review focuses on the advancements in the anti-cancer efficacy of various natural polysaccharides and polysaccharide complexes in the past 5 years. Most polysaccharides were tested using model systems, while several involved clinical trials.

Antiangiogenic and anticancer molecules in cartilage

Cartilage is one of the very few naturally occurring avascular tissues where lack of angiogenesis is the guiding principle for its structure and function. This has attracted investigators who have sought to understand the biochemical basis for its avascular nature, hypothesising that it could be used in designing therapies for treating cancer and related malignancies in humans through antiangiogenic applications. Cartilage encompasses primarily a specialised extracellular matrix synthesised by chondrocytes that is both complex and unique as a result of the myriad molecules of which it is composed. Of these components, a few such as thrombospondin-1, chondromodulin-1, the type XVIII-derived endostatin, SPARC (secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine) and the type II collagen-derived N-terminal propeptide (PIIBNP) have demonstrated antiangiogenic or antitumour properties in vitro and in vivo preclinical trials that involve several complicated mechanisms that are not completely understood. Thrombospondin-1, endostatin and the shark-cartilage-derived Neovastat preparation have also been investigated in human clinical trials to treat several different kinds of cancers, where, despite the tremendous success seen in preclinical trials, these molecules are yet to show success as anticancer agents. This review summarises the current state-of-the-art antiangiogenic characterisation of these molecules, highlights their most promising aspects and evaluates the future of these molecules in antiangiogenic applications.

Up regulation of annexin A2 on murine H22 hepatocarcinoma cells induced by cartilage polysaccharide

In this study, we investigated the antitumor effect of a tumor vaccine prepared from H22 hepatocarcinoma cells induced by cartilage polysaccharide. We found out there were specific antigens which combined with antigen-specific antibodies from immune murine serum. Results of western blot analysis showed that about 36 kDa make specific antibodies appeared specific antibodies in antiserum of immune mice, whereas the best immune effects became visible at the induction time of 48 h. Analyses of 2-dimensional electrophoresis identified the specific antigen was annexin A2, which was a glycosylated protein that contained a glycosylation site, closely related to oncogenesis, cancer development, invasion and metastasis. Proteomics indicated that both quantity and conformation of annexin A2 were changed after induced by cartilage polysaccharide. Lastly, we found there was a major increase of annexin A2 mRNA on H22 cells induced by cartilage polysaccharide. In summary, our data suggested that annexin A2, a specific antigen played a key role in antitumor immune response and activating the immune system. It would be a potential type of tumor vaccine which provided new ideas for tumor immunoprophylaxis.