Chondroitin sulfate extracted from the Styela clava tunic suppresses TNF-alpha-induced expression of inflammatory factors, VCAM-1 and iNOS by blocking Akt/NF-kappaB signal in JB6 cells.

Inflammatory mediators are known to play a key role in tumorigenesis, therefore, it is a promising strategy to inhibit the inflammation for cancer prevention and/or treatment. Current study was performed to investigate the effects of chondroitin sulfate (CS) extracted from Styela clava tunic on TNF-alpha-induced inflammation and to elucidate the mechanism of CS on the regulation of inflammatory factors in JB6 cells. Our results showed that CS inhibited TNF-alpha-induced NF-kappaB activation and subsequent vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 and inducible nitric oxide synthase expressions by blocking Akt signals in JB6 cells. Our results suggest that CS may be developed as an effective anti-inflammatory agent in the future.