Protective Effect of Degraded Porphyra yezoensis Polysaccharides on the Oxidative Damage of Renal Epithelial Cells and on the Adhesion and Endocytosis of Nanocalcium Oxalate Crystals

The protective effects of Porphyra yezoensis polysaccharides (PYPs) with molecular weights of 576.2 (PYP1), 105.4 (PYP2), 22.47 (PYP3), and 3.89 kDa (PYP4) on the oxidative damage of human kidney proximal tubular epithelial (HK-2) cells and the differences in adherence and endocytosis of HK-2 cells to calcium oxalate monohydrate crystals before and after protection were investigated. Results showed that PYPs can effectively reduce the oxidative damage of oxalic acid to HK-2 cells. Under the preprotection of PYPs, cell viability increased, cell morphology improved, reactive oxygen species levels decreased, mitochondrial membrane potential increased, S phase cell arrest was inhibited, the cell apoptosis rate decreased, phosphatidylserine exposure reduced, the number of crystals adhered to the cell surface reduced, but the ability of cells to endocytose crystals enhanced. The lower the molecular weight, the better the protective effect of PYP. The results in this article indicated that PYPs can reduce the risk of kidney stone formation by protecting renal epithelial cells from oxidative damage and reducing calcium oxalate crystal adhesion, and PYP4 with the lowest molecular weight may be a potential drug for preventing kidney stone formation.