In the present study, the preliminary structure and in vitro antitumor activity of three exopolysaccharides (EPSs) from Streptococcus thermophilus CH9 were investigated. Then, three purified fractions of EPS-1a, EPS-2a, and EPS-3a were obtained by chromatography using DEAE-52 cellulose and Sephadex G-100, respectively. The average molecular weight of EPS-1a, EPS-2a, and EPS-3a, were 1.80 × 10⁶, 1.06 × 10⁶ and 1.05 × 10⁶. The monosaccharide composition of EPS-3a was dramatically different from the others. The EPS-1a and EPS-2a were mainly composed of mannose, in a ratio of 69.82% and 57.09%, respectively, while EPS-3a was mainly composed of glucose (63.93%), without mannose. In addition, the surface morphology observed suggested that there were protein particles on the sugar chain of EPS-3a and EPS-3a was a protein-containing polysaccharide. Furthermore, EPS-3a exhibited higher antitumor activity against human liver cancer HepG2 cells in vitro. The antitumor activity of EPS-3a in HepG2 cells was associated with cell apoptosis. HE staining and Hoechst 33342 staining showed that with the treatment of EPS-3a, HepG2 cells had typical morphological changes. Flow cytometry analysis showed that the cell cycle was arrested at G0/G1 phase.
Keywords: S. thermophilus CH9; antitumor activity; exopolysaccharide; preliminary structure.