From Siraitia grosvenorii, a natural polysaccharide named SGP-1 was discovered, and its purity was determined to be 96.83%. Its structure is a glucan with 4-, 6- and 4,6-linked glucose units. In this paper, the sulfated derivative S-SGP of SGP-1 was prepared by the chlorosulfonic acid method. The sulfated derivatives were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The degree of substitution (DS) of the polysaccharide is 0.62, and the weight average molecular weight (Mw) is 1.34 × 104 Da. While retaining the morphological characteristics of polysaccharides, S-SGP appeared a large number of spherical structures and strong intermolecular forces. The in vitro activity study of S-SGP showed that the sulfated derivatives had the ability to scavenge DPPH radicals, hydroxyl radicals and superoxide anions, and the scavenging power tended to increase with the increase in polysaccharide concentration. It can inhibit the growth of human hepatoma cells (HepG2), human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) and human non-small cell lung cancer cells (A549) in vitro. In addition, the treatment of A549 cells with sulfuric acid derivatives can decrease the mitochondrial membrane potential, induce apoptosis, and alter the expression of apoptosis-related mRNA and protein.
Keywords: Siraitia grosvenorii polysaccharides; anti-tumor; sulfated modifications.