In: Sydowia 74, (2022): 315-325; ISSN 0082-0598, DOI 10.12905/0380.sydowia74-2021-0315, Published online on January 21, 2022

Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of
intracellular polysaccharides extracted from plasmodia
of Physarum polycephalum and Physarella oblonga

Tuyen T.H. Do, Du H. Nguyen, Steven L. Stephenson5 & Hanh T.M. Tran,*

School of Biotechnology, International University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Faculty of Biotechnology, Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Faculty of Chemistry, University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas

* e-mail: ttmhanh@hcmiu.edu.vn

Do T.T.H., Nguyen D.H., Stephenson S.L. & Tran H.T.M. (2022) Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of intracellular
polysaccharides extracted from plasmodia of Physarum polycephalum and Physarella oblonga. – Sydowia 74: 315–325.
This study aimed to evaluate antioxidant and antiproliferative properties of intracellular polysaccharides (IPSs) isolated
from plasmodia of two myxomycete species – Physarum polycephalum and Physarella oblonga. Unbound proteins and impurities
were eliminated from the crude IPSs by trichloroacetic acid treatment followed by dialysis. The data suggested that these partially
purification steps significantly reduced the contents of protein and sulfate groups, but did not necessarily enhance the bioactivities
of all the IPS samples. Monomer analysis by HPLC found that glucose (55.91 %) was the main monosaccharide in the
P. polycephalum IPS composition, whereas that of Ph. oblonga IPS was galactose (56.17 %). Gel permeation chromatography
data showed that the molecular weight of the partially purified IPSs from P. polycephalum and Ph. oblonga were 2,875 kDa and
943 kDa, respectively. Significant differences in bioactivities of these IPSs were also recorded. The Ph. oblonga IPSs exhibited
higher antioxidant activities than those of P. polycephalum. However, P. polcephalum IPSs displayed higher antiproliferative
activities toward the tested cancer cells. Specifically, after being treated with 1.0 mg/ml of the partially purified IPS of P.
polycephalum, only 33.24 % of the cervical cancer cells remained viable. Notably, the sample displayed low toxicity toward the
non-transformed bovine aortic endothelial cells.

Keywords: cytotoxicity, myxomycetes, MCF7, HeLa, DPPH scavenging.