키틴 ${\cdot}$키토산 및 그 올리고당의 면역작용에 의한 항종양 활성

Antitumor Activities by lmmunological Function of Chitin, Chitosan and Their Oligosaccharides

Chitin, a linked polysaccharide composed of 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-$\beta$-D-glucopytanose residues, is distributed widely in nature. It has been utilized on various application field due to the development of chitin derivatives such as chitosan, partial deacetylated chitin, carboxylmethyl chitin, sulfated chitin, and so on. Chitin and chitosan have been recently interested in antitumor and antimicrobial activities, because of a powerful tumor inhibitory effect against experimental mouse tumors. Especially, the oligosaccharides obtained by partial degradation of them exhibited a remarkable antitumor effect against sarcoma 180, MM 48 and Meth Asolid tumors and antimetastatic effect against Lewis lung carcinoma in mice. This review describes on antitumor effects of chitin, chitosan and their oligosaccharides by their mechanism of action involving enhancement of immunological system.