Fig 1 The repeating unit structure of the MDG-1 from Ophiopogon japonicus

Fig 2 MDG-1 promotes microvessel tube formation in three-dimensional cell culture.

Research group lead by Prof. Kan Ding, Glycobiology & Glycochemistry lab in Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM) collaborated with Prof. Feng Yi’s research group in Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine explored the anti-ischemia mechanism of a polysaccharide, MDG-1 extracted from Ophiopogon japonicus. The results have been published in international journal Glycobiolgy (Glycobiology. 2010, 20:473-84.).
Angiogenesis can recover myocardial cell damage induced by ischemia. Results showed that polysaccharide MDG-1 upregulates sphingosine kinase 1 and sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1 (s1p1) expression. Both MDG-1 and S1P induce basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) expression in HMEC-1 cells, which could promote angiogenesis. In vivo and in vitro tests demonstrated that MDG-1 had remarkable anti-ischemic activity and protects cardiomyocyte and HMEC-1 cells from ischemia-induced cell damage by inducing S1P1 and bFGF cytoprotective and proangiogenic effects via the S1P/bFGF/Akt/ERK/eNOS signaling pathway.
The research work was mainly accomplished by Dr. Wang Shuo. This program is supported by the People's Republic of China Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Shanghai Morning Star foundation.
full text :http://glycob.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/20/4/473