Hericium erinaceus (H. erinaceus; HE) polysaccharides (HE-PS) have been shown to have immunomodulatory activity. We found that the bioactive components of beta-glucan derivatives consisted of 20% in HE-PS. We used an analytic platform for investigating the effects of HE-PS on the maturation of rat dendritic cells (DCs), which are derived from rat bone marrow hematopoietic cells (BMHCs). The results showed that treatment with 50 mu g/mL HE-PS changed the morphology of the DCs to an active form in parallel with a significant two fold increase in MHC class II and CD80/86 surface antigens compared to the control. Furthermore, endocytosis by the DCs was significantly reduced at the same dosage. IL-12, IFN-gamma and IL-10 cytokine secretion was significantly increased by 2.7, 1.5 and 1.6-fold, respectively, compared to the control after treatment with 50 mu g/mL of HE-PS. This study used a powered analysis platform to show that HE-PS induces DCs activation and modulates the T(H)1 immune response. Thus, HE-PS has potential as an immunopotentiating agent that could be further developed in the health food industry. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.