Effects of chondroitin sulfate and its oligosaccharides on toll-like receptor-mediated IL-6 secretion by macrophage-like J774.1 cells.

The effects of two types of chondroitin sulphate (CS), CS-A and CS-C, their oligosaccharides (oligo-CSs), and disaccharides (Di-CSs) on toll-like receptor (TLR)-mediated secretion of interleukin (IL)-6 were compared using macrophage-like cell line J774.1. IL-6 secretion in the J774.1 cells was markedly increased by Pam3CS4, LPS, and CpG, the ligands to TLR1/2, 4, and 9 respectively. Among these three ligands, CpG-induced IL-6 was most clearly suppressed by CSs and their digests. Suppression of IL-6 secretion by smaller sized CS-A was stronger than that by intact CS-A, whereas no such size-dependent suppression was apparent for CS-C. Di-4S, the disaccharide unit of the CS-A digest, also showed much stronger suppression than Di-6S, the disaccharide unit of the CS-C digest, and the non-sulfated disaccharide unit, Di-0S. The suppressing activity of oligo-CSs, particularly Di-CSs, against TLR-mediated inflammation was dependent on the CS structure, including the sulfation site.