Promotion of Sophora subprosrate polysaccharide on nitric oxide and interleukin-2 production in murine T lymphocytes: implicated ca2+ and protein kinase C

SSP1, a polysaccharide isolated from Sophora subprosrate, increased the productions of nitric oxide (NO) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) in murine splenic T lymphocytes. SSP1-treated T lymphocytes showed an enhanced activity of protein kinase C (PKC) from the cellular membrane fraction as well as an increase in concentration of cytoplasmic free Ca2+. The results showed that SSP1 activated T cells to release NO and secrete IL-2 by modulating activity of PKC and level of intracellular free calcium. Nifedipine, a Ca2+ blocker, inhibited the activation of T cells by SSP1, indicating a role of Ca2+ in the activation of T cells. SSP1-treated T cells showed an enhanced translocation of PKC, indicating that SSP1 activated T cells via the activation of PKC.