Bioactive substances derived from natural products are valued for effective health-related activities. As extremely important component of plants, animal cell membrane and microbes cytoderm, polysaccharides have been applied as medications, foods and cosmetics stemming from their prominent biological functions and minor side-effects. Recent studies indicate that polysaccharides exert biological effects also through epigenetic mechanism. Through the intervention of DNA methylation, histone modification, and non-coding RNA, polysaccharides participatate in regulation of immunity/inflammation, glucose and lipid metabolism, antioxidant damage and anti-tumor, which presents novel mechanism of polysaccharide exerting various functions. In this review, the latest advances in the biological functions of dietary polysaccharides via epigenetic regulations were comprehensively summarized and discussed. From the view point of epigenetic regulation, investigating the relationship between polysaccharides and biological effects will enhance our understandings of polysaccharides and also means huge breakthrough of molecular mechanism in the polysaccharide research fields. The paper will provide important reference to these investigators of polysaccharide research and expand the applications of dietary polysaccharides in the functional food developments.
Keywords: DNA-methylation; Polysaccharides; epigenetics; histone modifications; miRNA; natural products.