Structural characteristics of polysaccharides HTP-60a isolated from hawk tea and its effect on improving DSS-induced colitis in mice

A new polysaccharide fragment HTP-60a was isolated from Hawk tea and protected against colitis in mice. Its molecular weight is 24.1KDa, and its basic skeleton is →4)-β-D-Manp-1→3-β-D-Glcp-1→6-β-Galp-1→4-β-D-Xylp-1→4-β-D-Xylp-(1→. The biological activities of HTP-60a were separately explored through in vivo experiments. In vitro experiments show that HTP-60 can alleviate LPS-induced cellular inflammation by reducing the levels of intracellular inflammatory factors. In vivo experiments confirmed that HTP-60a can reduce the level of cellular inflammation, increase the content of short-chain fatty acids, and regulate the intestinal microbiota in mice with colitis to alleviate the development of colitis. HTP-60a improves colitis in mice by inhibiting the activation of key signaling pathways such as PI3K-Akt、NF-κB, HIF-1 etc. and restoring the expression of connexins (Tjp1, Tjp3, Nectin1, Nectin2, Nectin3, Nectin4, Cldn1, Cldn7, Cldn15, Cx43). These results suggest that HTP-60a exhibits promising attributes as a natural compound, characterized by its interactions with various targets and pathways, as well as its lack of toxicity laying a theoretical foundation for it to become a functional food that can improve colitis symptoms for further research and development.