Cordyceps has anti-cancer effects; however, the bioactive substance and its effect are still unclear. Polysaccharides extracted from Cordyceps sinensis, the fugus of Cordyceps, have been reported to have anti-cancer properties. Thus, we speculated that polysaccharides might be the key anti-tumor active ingredients of Cordyceps because of their larger molecular weight than that of polysaccharides in Cordyceps sinensis. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of wild Cordyceps polysaccharides on H22 liver cancer and the underlying mechanism. The structural characteristics of the polysaccharides of WCP were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography, high-performance gel-permeation chromatography, Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry, and scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, H22 tumor-bearing BALB/c mice were used to explore the anti-tumor effect of WCP (100 and 300 mg/kg/d). The mechanism by WCP inhibited H22 tumors was uncovered by the TUNEL assay, flow cytometry, hematoxylin-eosin staining, quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and Western blotting. Here, our results showed that WCP presented high purity with an average molecular weight of 2.1 × 106 Da and 2.19 × 104 Da. WCP was determined to be composed of mannose, glucose, and galactose. Notably, WCP could inhibit the proliferation of H22 tumors not only by improving immune function, but also by promoting the apoptosis of tumor cells, likely through the IL-10/STAT3/Bcl2 and Cyto-c/Caspase8/3 signaling pathways, in H22 tumor-bearing mice. Particularly, WCP had essentially no side effects compared to 5-FU, a common drug used in the treatment of liver cancer. In conclusion, WCP could be a potential anti-tumor product with strong regulatory effects in H22 liver cancer.
Keywords: anti-tumor activity; apoptosis; polysaccharide; structural characterization; wild Cordyceps.