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Immunostimulatory Principles From Chlorella Pyrenoidosa-Part 1: Isolation and Biological Assessment in Vitro
Immunostimulatory Principles From Chlorella Pyrenoidosa-Part 1: Isolation and Biological Assessment in Vitro
Abstract
Our proprietary preparation obtained by extraction of Chlorella pyrenoidosa cells, ONC-107 (RespondinTM), was
recently found to selectively boost antibody response to the influenza vaccine in a human clinical trial. RespondinTM is
a potent stimulator of mouse B cell proliferation and an activator of macrophages. Bioactivity-guided resolution
concluded that RespondinTM is composed of a mixture of immunostimulatory principles of different chemical nature.
A combination of size exclusion, anion exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography revealed that the bulk
of the immunostimulatory activity resides in polysaccharide/protein complexes with molecular masses larger than
100 kDa that are composed primarily of galactose, rhamnose and arabinose.
r 2005 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
0944-7113/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2005.09.002
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58 J.A. Kralovec et al. / Phytomedicine 14 (2007) 57–64
were obtained from Taiwan Chlorella Manufacturers alditol acetates (Supelco, Inc. (St. Louis, MO). Deter-
Ltd. (Taipei, Taiwan). Chromatography methods were mination of uronic acid and N-acetylamino sugar
developed using the AKTA FPLC system (Amersham content was performed as described by Blumenkrantz
Pharmacia Biotech) at a linear flow rate of 0.1 ml/min. and Asboe-Hansen (1973) and Reissig et al. (1955),
and scaled up for preparative runs. Samples were respectively.
dissolved in running buffers and filtered through
0.45 mm filter. RPMI 1640 and tetramethyl benzidine Amino acid analysis and protein content
substrate media were obtained from Gibco-BRL (In-
vitrogen Life Technologies, Burlington, ON). Costar Samples were hydrolyzed in 6 M HCl under vacuum
3950 ELISA and 3596 tissue culture plates were at 110 1C for 20 h. The protein content was determined
purchased from Fisher Scientific (Halifax, NS). Cyto- with the BCA method (Smith et al., 1985) or from amino
kines and the corresponding antibodies for evaluation of acid analysis.
activity of macrophages were obtained from Pharmigen
Canada (Mississauga, ON). Anti-Thy-1.2- and anti-
Molecular mass distribution by MALS
B220-coated (anti-CD45R) Miltenyi microbeads, Mid-
iMACS columns and magnets were purchased from
Samples (2 mg/ml) in 88 mM sodium acetate buffer,
Miltenyi Biotec (Auburn, CA).
containing 40 ppm of sodium azide, pH 4.5 were
subjected to HPLC prior to light scattering and RI
Extraction/ultrafiltration analysis. The flow rate was 0.60 ml/min. and the
dn/dc values were determined using a series of
Chlorella cells were extracted with five volumes of known concentrations of sample covering a range of
0.003% benzoic acid at 80 1C for 1 h, centrifuged and the 0.1–1 mg/ml.
pellet washed twice with distilled water. The combined
liquids were evaporated to 1/3 of the volume, a third was
Animals
directly lyophilized to obtain 1, a third was dialyzed
against water and lyophilized to obtain 2, and a third
Female BALB/c mice aged 6–8 weeks were purchased
was fractionated using 30, 100, 500 and 1000 kDa
from Charles River Canada (Saint-Constant, PQ) and
ultrafiltration membranes after mixing with 4 M guani-
maintained under a 12 h light/dark cycle. The studies
dine hydrochloride (1:1 v/v), dialyzed against water and
were carried out in full compliance with regulations of
lyophilized. the Canadian Council on Animal Care.
the radioactivity determined by liquid scintillation washed, developed using tetramethyl benzidine sub-
counting. strate solution (100 ml/well) and read at 450 nm.
Table 1. Yields, immunoactivities and other physicochemical characteristics of the selected immune boosting preparations isolated
from Chlorella pyrenoidosa
Material Yield (%) RISA (% of 2) Protein (%) (BCA/AAA) Major amino acids (%) Monosacharides (%)
Samples (125 mg/ml) were compared to the activity of 2 (taken as 100%) and are expressed in terms of relative immunostimulatory activity (RISA)
was determined using both the BCA method and amino acid analysis (AAA). Major amino acids are listed as percentages of total amino acid
content.
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60 J.A. Kralovec et al. / Phytomedicine 14 (2007) 57–64
500–1000 kDa region and was maximal for molecules Physicochemical characterization of the isolated
with mass greater than 1000 kDa (Fig. 1). materials
A 90
80
70
Mass Distribution
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
<30 30-100 100-500 500-1000 >1000
Fraction (KDa)
B 400000
Immunostimulatory Activity (cpm)
300000
200000
100000
0
2 <30 30-100 100-500 500-1000 >1000 LPS 20 ug/ml Basal
Fraction (KDa)
Fig. 1. Ultrafiltration of 1 (A) and immunoactivity of the obtained fractions (B). Immunostimulating properties were measured by
[3H]-thymidine incorporation by mouse splenocytes at 31.25 mg/ml, ’; 62.5 mg/ml, ’; 125 mg/ml: O. The controls were untreated
cells and cells challenged with 20 mg/ml LPS; they are denoted by &. (n ¼ 3).
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J.A. Kralovec et al. / Phytomedicine 14 (2007) 57–64 61
A B
700 5 80 1.0
2a 2b 2d 2e 2f
600 2c 4 0.8
60
500
3 0.6
400
A490
A280
A280
A490
40
300 2 0.4
200 20
1 0.2
100
0 0 0 0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Elution Volume (ml) Elution Volume (ml)
C D
3000 6
200 2k 0.35
2500 2h 5 0.30
2000 4 150 0.25
2l
1500 3 0.20
A280
A490
A280
2g 100 0.15
1000 2 2m
0.10
500 1 50
0.05
0 0 0.00
0
0 100 200 300 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Elution Volume (ml) Elution Volume (ml)
Fig. 2. Chromatography of: 2 using Sephadex G100 (A), 2a using Sephacryl S1000 FF (B) or Q Sepharose (C), and 2d and 2f using a
HiPrep 16/10 Butyl FF column (D). The fractions were monitored at 280 nm (––), and at 490 nm (- - -) after mixing with
phenol–sulfuric acid reagent.
1% of aminosugars and 6% of uronic acids were er molecular fractions 2e and 2f are mainly polysacchar-
detected. Hydrolysates of fraction 2a did not contain ides. Material 2 h (fraction of 2a) had a strong affinity
ribose or glucose but contained galactose, rhamnose and for Q Sepharose anion exchanger, was composed mainly
arabinose. 2d had three times more galactose than of polysaccharide/protein complexes and exhibited
arabinose, while 2e and 2f contained galactose, rham- strong immunoactivity. B lymphocyte proliferation
nose and arabinose in almost equal amounts. Methyl was markedly stimulated with 2 and its components,
3-O-methyl-a-L-rhamnopyranoside and methyl 2-O- whereas T cell proliferation was not stimulated sig-
methyl-a-L-rhamnopyranoside, monosaccharides identi- nificantly (data not shown). Treatment of mouse
fied in hydrolysates of Chlorella vulgaris by others peritoneal macrophages by 2 stimulated IL-6 production
(Ogawa et al., 1997), were not detected in our materials. (Fig. 4). Production of IL-10, IL-12, and g-IFN was also
stimulated (data not shown).
Stimulation of different immune cell types
300000
Immunostimulatory Activity
250000
200000
(cpm)
150000
100000
50000
0
2 2a 2d 2e 2g 2h 2k 2l 2m Cells LPS
Sample
Fig. 3. Stimulation of proliferation of spleen cells with 2 and its fractions at 31.25 mg/ml, ’ and 62.5 mg/ml, O. The controls were
untreated cells and cells challenged with 20 mg/ml LPS; they are denoted by &. (n ¼ 3).
Fig. 4. IL-6 production by BALB/c mouse peritoneal macrophages. The positive controls, concanavalin A (10 mg/ml) and LPS at
20 mg/ml were included in the experiment (n ¼ 3).
and decrease their solubility and hydratability resulting with glucorhamnans, as suggested by monosaccharide
in the formation of non-covalent aggregates of differing composition and the high percentage of hydroxyproline
stability. (Gane et al., 1995).
Similar to carbohydrate glued protein aggregates One benefit of B cell immunomodulators is that they
(Matsubara and Ebina, 1997), components of Respon- can stimulate immune function in subjects who may
dinTM aggregate over time leading to changes in have an impaired antibody response to an antigen. A B
molecular mass distribution. Since ultrafiltration shifts cell stimulator might increase the rapidity of the
equilibrium between free molecules and their aggregates antibody immune response when presented with a new
in favor of free entities, molecular masses estimated infection (Hadden, 1992). 1 (RespondinTM, ONC-107)
from ultrafiltration are more realistic than those enhanced the antibody response to the influenza vaccine
determined from gel filtration in combination with (Halperin, 2003). Macrophages are also important
MALS. components of the initial response to infection. B cell
The immunomodulatrory activity of RespondinTM is proliferation and macrophage activation assays are used
not affected by high temperature but digestion with routinely in our laboratory, however, there are many
pronase resulted in a decrease in the immunoactivity, other suitable immunotests that could be used to
e.g. digestion of 2d fragment resulted in 30–50% evaluate immunostimulatory products (Wagner et al.,
reduction in the immunoactivity (data not shown). 1999). For instance, we plan to investigate other
Thermostability is a very important feature for any systems, particularly phagocytosis, since many high
nutraceutical or a functional food. molecular weight polysaccharides stimulate this compo-
Immunostimulatory principles of higher molecular nent of the immune system (Wagner et al., 1988).
mass contained a higher proportion of protein. Inter- Mizuno et al. (1980) isolated a-L-arabino-a-L-rham-
estingly, materials of higher purity such as 2a or 2d do no-a-D-galactan with a molecular mass of around
not display markedly higher immunostimulatory activ- 105 kDa from Chlorella and this material may resemble
ity than parent material 2 (Fig. 3). These fractions are materials composing 2. White and Barber (1972) iso-
likely composed of arabinogalactan-proteins combined lated a complex 88 kDa acidic heteroglycan containing
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J.A. Kralovec et al. / Phytomedicine 14 (2007) 57–64 63
mainly rhamnose, but also arabinose, galactose, xylose, sphamide-treated rats orally administered with a hot water
mannose and glucuronic acid. A glycoprotein (218 kDa) extract of Chlorella vulgaris. Int. J. Immunopharmacol. 12,
studied by Konishi et al. (1985) is a non-polysaccharide- 883–891.
based immunomodulator from Chlorella. Only a few Kneifel, H., 1979. Amines in algae. In: Hoppe, H.A., Levring,
authors reported larger than 100 kDa immunomodula- T., Tanaka, Y. (Eds.), Marine algae in pharmaceutical
tors; e.g. extraction of Chlorella pyrenoidosa cells with science. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, pp. 365–401.
Kojima, M., Shishido, K., Kobayashi, S., Dobashi, M., Ino,
70% ethanol resulted in a product with an estimated
S., 1973. Chlorella polysaccharide as a factor stimulating of
molecular mass of 10,000 kDa (Pugh et al. 2001).
RES (reticuloendothelial system) activity. RES. J. Reticu-
The most compelling evidence for oral effectiveness of loendothelial. Soc. 14, 192–208.
large immunotherapeutics comes from two of the most Konishi, F., Tanaka, K., Himeno, K., Taniguchi, K., Nomoto,
clinically successful immunostimulants, PSK and SPG K., 1985. Antitumor effect induced by a hot water extract
(Nio et al., 1992; Furue, 1987). Similar to these of Chlorella vulgaris (CE): resistance to Meth-A tumor
polysaccharide-based immunostimulants, the initial growth mediated by CE-induced polymorphonuclear leu-
effect of Chlorella biopolymers is likely triggered on kocytes. Cancer Immunol. Immunother. 19, 73–78.
intestinally situated immune cells. Structure-activity Kralovec, J.A., 2003. Fractions of Chlorella extract containing
studies do not disclose why some polysaccharides are polysaccharide having immunomodulating properties. US
orally immunoactive, while others are only active 6,551,596 B2.
parenterally (e.g. lentinan, Maeda and Chihara, 1999) Maeda, Y.Y., Chihara, G., 1999. Lentinan another antitumor-
or not active at all. Our findings confirmed structural al polysaccharides in immunomodulatory agents from
complexity of Chlorella-based immunomodulators and plants. In: Wagner, H., (Ed.), Birkhäuser, Verlag, Basel,
Boston, Berlin, pp. 203.
further resolution of some of the fractions has already
Matsubara, K., Ebina, S., 1997. Natural and artificial
been achieved (Reyes-Suarez et al., 2005). Studies are in
carbohydrate-glued protein aggregates. Adv. Biophys. 34,
progress to determine how the new data can assist in the 253–262.
design of nuclear magnetic resonance-based quality Mitsuda, H., Nishikawa, Y., Higuchi, M., 1977. Effect of the
control of these immunomodulators. breaking of Chlorella cells on the digestibility of Chlorella
protein. J. Jpn. Soc. Food. Nutr. 30, 93–98.
Mizuno, T., Usui, T., Kanemitsu, K., Uhiyama, M., Matsue-
Acknowledgements da, S., Shirpo, K., Hasegawa, T., Kobayashi, S., Shinkaii,
K., Arakawa, M., 1980. Studies on the carbohydrates of
This study was supported in part by the IRAP Chlorella III. Fractionation and some biological activities
program of the National Research Council of Canada. of the Chlorella polysaccharides. Shizuoka Daigaku Noga-
kubu Kenkyu Hokoku 30, 51–59.
Nio, Y., Tsubono, M., Tseng, C-C., Morimoto, H., Kawabata,
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