Project description:Lead is a ubiquitous environmental and industrial pollutant. Its nonbiodegradable toxicity induces a plethora of human diseases. The current study was undertaken to purify a novel 252-kDa bioactive glycoprotein containing 1.15% carbohydrate from the edible fungus Auricularia polytricha with the ability of adsorbing lead and producing detoxification. The A. polytricha detoxifying glycoprotein (APL), which displayed unique molecular properties, was purified by ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration chromatography. For investigating the protective effects of A. polytricha, Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were divided into six groups which received daily intraperitoneal injection of lead acetate for 30 days, followed by gavage with APL (40, 80, 160 mg/kg B body weight) and EDTA (300 mg/kg body weight) for 30 days after successful establishment of an animal model of lead detoxification. The serum concentrations of lead and the liver biomarkers AST and ALT were significantly (p<0.05) improved by APL treatments, as well as treatment with the positive control EDTA. Likewise, results on lead residue showed that the clearance ratios of liver and kidney were respectively 44.5% and 18.1% at the high APL dosage, which was even better than the corresponding data for EDTA. Proteomics disclosed that 351 proteins differentially expressed due to lead exposure and the expression levels of 41 proteins enriched in the pathways mainly involved in cell detoxification and immune regulation were normalized after treatment with APL-H. Our results signify that APL may ameliorate lead-induced hepatorenal injury by positive regulation of immune processing, and suggest that APL be applied as a therapeutic intervention of lead poisoning in clinic treatment. This report represents the first demonstration of the protective action of a novel mushroom protein on lead-elicited hepatorenal toxicity.
