Biological activities of a neutral water-soluble agar polysaccharide prepared by agarase degradation

Depolymerization of agar was performed using agarase, which was extracted from the cell-free medium of a culture of marine bacterial Alterornonas sp. nov. SY 37-12. After ethanol fractionation and lyophilization, the water-soluble agar polysaccharide （WSAP3） was collected. The anti-tumor activity of the product was determined by using Sarcoma 180 tumor in mouse. The tumor inhibition rate of WSAP3 the product was determined by using Sarcoma 180 tumor in mouse. The tumor inhibition rate of WSAP3 reached 48.7% at a dose of 64mg kg^-1 after 15 days treatment. WSAP3 enhanced the aetivities of superoxide dismutase and catalase, which suggests that WSAP3 was effective in promoting the antioxidation ability and eliminating danger from free radicals. The result of flow cytometry showed that the WSAP3 had no activities of cell cycle inhibition or apoptosis-inducing activities. The anti-oxidation of WSAP3 was further confirmed by test in vitro, which might play an important role in anti-tumor activity. The immunological regulation of WSAP3, especially its effect on the phagocytosis ratio and phagocytosis index of rophage was also assayed in test in vivo.