On the miRNAs-regulated mechanisms by which natural plant polysaccharides control apoptosis

Instruction: Plant polysaccharides are important components of Chinese herbal medicine. Many polysaccharides, such as Astragalus polysaccharide and Lycium barbarum polysaccharide, have important functions such as tumor growth inhibition, antioxidant, anti-aging and immune regulation. Methods: Literature searches were conducted on the following databases: Pubmed, ACS website, Elsevier, Google Scholar, Web of Science and CNKI database. Keywords such as “plant polysaccharides”, “apoptosis”, “miRNA”, “apoptosis pathway” and “regulation of apoptosis” were used to search relevant journals and contents, and some irrelevant contents were excluded. In this review, the effects of plant polysaccharides on cell apoptosis and how to regulate miRNA expression were reviewed, which provided the basis for further research on the mechanism of polysaccharide action. Results: Plant polysaccharides regulated apoptosis probably by regulating the expression of mirnas, and the expression of certain downstream signaling factors of miRNA were changed. Some of these factors could directly act on apoptosis-related signals, activate or inhibit signaling pathways, and thus regulate cell apoptosis. Discussion and conclusion: In this review, we discussed the regulatory effects of plant polysaccharides on apoptosis and their possible molecular mechanisms. However, most of the current studies lack clinical experimental data, so it is still necessary to further study the specific mechanism of plant polysaccharides affecting cell miRNA expression and apoptosis, so that plant polysaccharides can be more widely used in clinical and practical aspects.