Laminarin, a linear β1,3-linked glucan backbone with occasional β1,6-linked branching, was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St Louis, Missouri) and pustulan, a β1,6 linked, linear glucan, was obtained from Calbiochem (La Jolla, California).
The hook-bearing branches of U. rhynchophylla were purchased from the Luo-Si-Wan Chinese herbal medicine market, Kunming, Yunnan province, China, in April 2016, and identified by Dr. Zhang Jun, Kunming Plant Classification Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
Octahydrochloride of AMD3100 and 25 kDa branched poly ethylene imine) (PEI) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich.
They were obtained from the Brussels Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Total RNA samples were purchased from Ambion Life Technologies, or prepared from cell lines and surgical specimens (obtained from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Belgium) using either TriPure Isolation Reagent (Roche Diagnostics GmbH) or the guanidinium-isothiocyanate/cesium chloride procedure.
LC-grade methanol, acetonitrile, formic acid and phosphoric acid were purchased from the branch company of Merck in Taipei, Taiwan.
Male C57BL/6N mice were purchased from the Animal Breeding Facility, Branch of Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry (Russian Academy of Sciences).
Male BALB/c mice (6 8 weeks of age) were purchased from the Korean branch of Taconic, Samtaco (Osan, Korea).
Rosiglitazone powder was obtained from Dr. Wang CY from Far Eastern Memorial Hospital (supplied by GSK Taiwan branch) while rosiglitazone tablets, Avandia® (4 mg) were purchased from Taipei Medical University Hospital Pharmacy.
Male and female ICR mice, which have been used widely for reproduction research [39], [40], were purchased from the National Rodent Laboratory Animal Center (Shanghai Branch, China).
All cell culture materials were purchased from Atlanta Biologicals (Flowery Branch, GA) unless otherwise specified.
