Comparison of the structural characteristics and immunostimulatory activities of polysaccharides from wild and cultivated Pleurotus feruleus

Abstract Pleurotus feruleus is an edible and medicinal mushroom. We previously demonstrated that the crude and purified polysaccharides from cultivated P. feruleus (PFCP-C and PFPS-C) had the immunostimulatory activity. Here, the crude and purified polysaccharides of wild P. feruleus (PFCP-W and PFPS-W) were compared with PFCP-C and PFPS-C on the immunostimulatory activity. PFCP-W and PFCP-C showed similar activity on dendritic cell (DC) maturation in vitro, whereas the activity of PFCP-W was higher than that of PFCP-C in vivo. The monosaccharide compositions of PFPS-W and PFPS-C were different. PFPS-W was sulfated polysaccharides with crude surface. PFPS-W and PFPS-C promoted the activation of DCs and macrophages through TLR4 signaling pathway, whereas the activity of PFPS-W was higher than that of PFPS-C. The maturation and migration of DCs in vivo were significantly increased by PFPS-W and PFPS-C. Moreover, PFPS-W and PFPS-C significantly enhanced the antigen-specific cellular immune responses induced by DC-based vaccine.