Structure of a highly branched galacturonoglucan from fruits of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill.

A novel galacturonoglucan, named SCP-1, is isolated and purified from Schisandra chinensis fruits. The structure of SCP-1 is systematically investigated by a combination of monosaccharide compositions, absolute Mw, methylation analysis, partial acid hydrolysis, isoamylase degradations, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The structure of SCP-1 is theoretically described as follows: (i) Glc and GalA in a molar ratio of 17:3; (ii) → 4)-α-Glcp-(1→, →4,6)-α-Glcp-(1→, →3,4,6)-α-Glcp-(1→, α-Glcp-(1→, →4)-α-GalAp-6-OMe-(1→, α-GalAp-6-OMe-(1→, β-Glcp-(1→, →6-)-β-Glcp-(1 → and →3,4)-β-Glcp-(1 → in a molar ratio of 48:5:3:3:10:5:12:5:9; (iii) a repeating unit of →4)-α-Glcp-(1 → as a backbone with branched points at C-3 and C-6, substituted by different types of acidic and neutral side chains to form multiple branches; and (iv) a rigid rod configuration deduced from α value of 1.26 in Mark-Houwink equation ([η] = kMα). Anti-tumor assay investigated the effects of SCP-1 on human HepG2 cancer cell lines in vitro. This is for the first time to report a galacturonoglucan in S. chinensis fruits.