Schizophyllum commune, polysaccharide

Yanaki, T., Norisuye, T., and Fujita, H., Triple helix of schizophyllum commune polysaccharide in dilute solution. 3. Hydrodynamic properties in water, Macromolecules, 13, 1462, 1980. 

It has to be mentioned that different non-ionic polysaccharides whose chains belong to the periodic-sequence group (Table 2) can also assume ordered conformations in dilute aqueous solution, whose stability is governed by temperature and which moreover, can collapse into random coiled conformations in organic solvents. This is, for example, the case of Schizophyllum commune polysaccharide (Schizophyllan) whose chains consist of linearly linked 8-1,3-D-glucose residues with one B-1,6-D-glucose side chain for every three main chain residues. 

The cell wall of Schizophyllum commune Fr. contains an alkali-soluble glucan and an alkali-insoluble glucan the latter gives gentio-biose, but no laminarabiose, on partial hydrolysis. The polysaccharide gives an x-ray diffraction pattern identical with those of the glucans of Schizosaccharomyces octosporus and Nadsoniafulvescens, the structures of which are not yet known. ... 

Other polysaccharides whose solutions yield liquid crystalline phases include the bacterial polysaccharide xylan and the extracellular fungal polysaccharide produced by schizophyllum commune... 

The most famous example of non-specific polysaccharide immunoadjuvants is lentinan isolated from Lentinus edodes. Since 1985, lentinan has been used as an antitumor agent. Lentinan is a (1 3)-/3-glucop)ranan bearing (1 6)-/3-glucopyranoside branches (O Scheme 1). This neutral polysaccharide suppresses the proliferation of sarcoma 180 tumors implanted subcutaneously in mice. Its antitumor activity was due to a host-mediated reaction with participation of thymus or thymus-dependent cells [1]. The lymphokines induced by this polysaccharide enhance the activity of lymphocytes (e. g., macrophages, helper T cells, and/or natural killer cells) in a dramatic manner [2,3,4,5]. Lentinan-like (1 3)-/3-glucopyranan (schizophyllan) contained in the insoluble fraction of Schizophyllum commune has the stracture shown in O Scheme 2 and is known to possess antitumor activity [6]. 

SiZOfiran [inn.jan] (schizophyllan SPG) is a (polysaccharide) antibiotic, isolated from Schizophyllum commune, showing (immunostimulant) immunomodulator activity. It has ANTICANCER activity in a number of systems, including against sarcoma-180 ascites, and also augments anticancer properties of interleukin-2 in mice. 

Glucan structural unit is the other factor which has major influence on the bioactivities of polysaccharides. Mostly, glucan is the basic structural unit of polysaccharides extracted from plants [113]. The literature strongly indicates that the antitumor and antiviral properties of polysaccharides isolated from medicinal plants/mushrooms associate with their glucan structures [114]. For example, len-tinan from Lentinula edodes, schizophyllan from Schizophyllum commune, which have been used for extensive anticancer treatment and also in many clinical trials, contain glucan units in their mam-chain structures [115,116],... 

Kikumoto S, Miyazima T, Kimura K, Okubo S, Komatsu N (1971) Polysaccharide produced by Schizophyllum commune, part II. Chemical structure of an extracellular polysaccharide. Nippon Nogeikagaku Kaishi (Jap J Agr Chem) 45 162-168... 

The polysaccharide schizophyllan is produced using strains of the wood-rotting filamentous basidiomycete Schizophyllum commune. As for scleroglucan, schizophyllan production is tightly linked to growth. Currently, schizophyllan is produced from glucose and available only in small quantities of expensive purified pharmaceutical and cosmetic-grade materials. 

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