Polysaccharides in Fungi. XXXIV. A Polysaccharide from the Fruiting Bodies of Amanita muscaria and the Antitumor Activity of Its Carboxymethylated Product

Abstract

A water-insoluble, alkali-soluble, glucan (AM-APP), [α]_D + 160° in 0.4м NaOH, was isolated from the alkaline extract of the fruiting bodies of Amanita muscaria. The results of chemical and spectroscopic investigations indicate that AM-APP is a linear (1→3)-α-D-glucan with a molecular weight estimated by gel chromatography of about 42000. Its carboxymethylated product (AM-APP-CM) showed potent antitumor activity against sarcoma 180 in mice, although the native polysaccharide (AM-APP) had little effect. The distribution of carboxymethyl groups in the molecule was analyzed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The degree of substitution of carboxymethyl groups was 0.95 and the substituents were located at O-2, at O-4, at O-6, at O-2 and O-6, and at O-4 and O-6 on glucose.