Direct antitumor effect of high-molecular-weight levan on Lewis lung carcinoma cells in mice.

The polysaccharide levan exerted a direct effect on Lewis lung carcinoma cells in vitro. Tumor cells incubated with levan showed a pronounced decrease in oncogenic properties when inoculated sc in the syngeneic hosts (C57BL mice), although the viability of cells as determined by the trypan blue exclusion test was not diminished. The effect of pretreatment of inoculated mice with levan. Radiolabel incorporation into DNA, RNA, and protein was not affected in cells incubated with levan, but transport properties were selectively altered: Thymidine, uridine, and leucine transport was enhanced, whereas deoxyglucose transport was unchanged. The results indicated that levan exerted a direct antitumor effect on Lewis lung carcinoma cells in vitro.