Structural features of an acidic polysaccharide with the potential of promoting osteoblast differentiation from Lycium ruthenicum Murr.

Abstract

The enhanced osteoblast differentiation is beneficial to the prevention of osteoporosis. In this study, a homogeneous polysaccharide (LRP-S2A) with the potential of promoting osteoblast differentiation was obtained from the fruits of Lycium ruthenicum, a traditional herb for treatment of postmenopausal metabolic disorders. Structural identification indicated that LRP-S2A, with a relative molecular weight of 2.65 × 10⁶ Da and an uronic acid content of 41.8%, contained Rha, Ara, Gal, Glc and GlcA in a molar ratio of 1.00 : 2.07 : 0.57 : 2.59 : 4.33 and was composed of a backbone consisting of 6-O-Me-α-(1→4)-D-GlcpA, 2-O-acetyl-α-(1→4)-D-Glcp, α-(1→2,4)-L-Rhap, β-(1→3)-D-Galp andα-(1→3,5)-L-Araf, and some branches consisting of 6-O-Me-α-(1→4)-D-GlcpA and terminal α-L-Araf. These results suggested that LRP-S2A with the potential of promoting osteoblast differentiation was a new acidic polysaccharide.

Keywords:

• Lycium ruthenicum Murr.
• acidic polysaccharide
• osteoblast differentiation
• structure elucidation

Supplementary material

Supplementary material relating to this article is available online, alongside experimental, Tables S1–S2 and Figures S1–S9.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was financially supported by the project for Science and Technology Research Plan from Anhui Province of China [grant number 15czz04087], the fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [grant number JZ2017HGPB0169].