잣버섯 균사체로부터 분리한 수용성 단백다당체 Lepidan의 면역증가작용

Enhancement of Immune Responses by a Water Soluble Proteoglycan, Lepidan from Lentinus lepideus

In this study, we investigated the immunopotent activities of lepidan, a water soluble proteolycan from Lentinus lepideus. To examine whether lepidan may affect nonspecific immune responses, we determined the effect on the production of nitric oxide (NO). Lepidan effectively increased the No production in IFN-gamma and LPS triggered RAW 264.7 cells. To further demonstrate the evidence that lepidan activates various immune cells, we determined the alkaline phosphatase activity, plaque-forming cell nember and secretion of interleukine-4 (IL-4) and granulocyte/macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) after lepidan treatment in murine splenocytes. The results showed that lepidan increased alkaline phosphatase activity and the number of plaque-forming cells, which indicates that lepidan can lead B lymphocytes to late stage of differentiation. Also, when the splenocytes were cultured with lepidan for 48hr, the level of IL-4 and GM-CSF in the supernatant dramatically increased. Taken together, these data suggest that lepidan is a biological response modulator that is able to activate immune responses.