Abstract:

Polysaccharide components SP1 and SP2 with different molecular weights were obtained from Schisandraceae
and through ultra-filtration and deproteinization. The intestinal cell lines Caco-2 and HT-29 were used to evaluate the
antitumor activity of SP1 and SP2 in vitro. The results showed that the proliferation of both Caco-2 and HT-29 cells was
inhibited by SP1 and SP2. Meanwhile, the increase in relative transcription level of caspase-3 was confirmed by realtime
quantitative polymerase chain reaction (real time-qPCR). SP1 had no significant effect on the inhibition of tumor cell
growth, except incubation for 72 h at a dose of 500 μg/mL (P < 0.05). However, SP2 showed an obvious tumor inhibitory
effect even at lower dose and shortened incubation time, resulting in a more significant increase in the relative transcription
level of caspase-3. In conclusion, the polysaccharides from Schisandraceae have great potential to inhibit the proliferation of
intestinal tumor cells, especially the small molecular weight polysaccharide .

Key words: Schisandraceae, polysaccharides, anti-tumor activity, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction