Bioactive mushroom polysaccharides as antitumor: an overview

Aromatic compounds from the sclerotia of Inonotus obliquus

Three new aromatic compounds (1a/1b, 2) including a pair of enantiomers (1a/1b), were isolated from Inonotus obliquus. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses, and the absolute configurations of 1a and 1b were determined by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculated. All isolates were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against Hep3B and HepG2 cell lines. Compounds 1b and 2 showed weak cytotoxicity toward the Hep3B cells at 25 μM.

Study on antidepressant-like effect of protoilludane sesquiterpenoid aromatic esters from Armillaria Mellea

Armillaria mellea, also known as Hazel mushroom, is a delicious food material and traditional herbal medicine in East Asia. Protoilludane sesquiterpenoid aromatic esters from A. mellea (PSAM) are the main active components with antibacterial and anticancer activities. This study explored the antidepressant-like activities of PSAM and its possible mechanisms of action using the open field test (OFT), tail suspension test (TST) and forced swimming test (FST) in mice for the first time. The results revealed that PSAM (1 mg/kg, i.p.) exhibited markedly antidepressant-like activity, which could be reversed by pretreatment with haloperidol (a non-selective D₂ receptor antagonist), bicuculline (a competitive GABA antagonist), NMDA (an agonist at the glutamate site). Meanwhile, PSAM also effectively increased the hippocampus dopamine (DA) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and decreased the hippocampus glutamate (Glu) levels of mice, indicating that the antidepressant-like effect of PSAM might be mediated by the DAergic, GABAergic and Gluergic systems.

Bioactivity-based analysis and chemical characterization of cytotoxic compounds from a poisonous mushroom, Amanita spissacea, in human lung cancer cells in vitro

As part of our systematic study on Korean toxic mushrooms, bioactivity-guided fractionation of the MeOH extract of Amanita spissacea (Amanitaceae) fruiting bodies and chemical investigation of its cytotoxic fractions led to the isolation of (9E)-8-oxo-9-octadecenoic acid (1), (10E)-9-oxo-10-octadecenoic acid (2), (9E)-8-oxo-9-octadecenoate methyl ester (3), (9Z)-9-octadecenoate-(2'S)-2',3'-dihydroxypropyl ester (4), (9Z)-9-octadecenoic acid (5), and palmitic acid (6). The structures of the isolates were elucidated by NMR spectroscopic analysis and LC/MS analysis. Among the isolated compounds, compounds 1 and 2 exhibited the most potent cytotoxic activity in all human lung cancer cell lines examined, with IC₅₀ values ranging from 255.7 to 321.0 μM and 250.2 to 322.5 μM, respectively. The cytotoxicity of these compounds was also found to be mediated by apoptosis associated with caspase-3 activation. These findings provide experimental evidence suggesting the potential of A. spissacea as a promising natural source for the discovery of novel anticancer drug candidates.

Agaricus bisporus-derived β-glucan enter macrophages and adipocytes by CD36 receptor

β-glucans are a heterogeneous group of natural polysaccharides. They are ubiquitously found in bacterial or fungal cell walls, cereals, seaweed, and mushrooms. The beneficial role of β-glucan in tumor, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and obesity is being continuously documented. Ample evidence showed that β-glucan could act on several receptors, such as Dectin, complement receptor (CR3), TLR-2, 4, 6 and scavenger. Based on the above, we wanted to explore whether agaricus bisporus-derived β-glucan acted on these receptors on Raw 264.7 macrophages and 3T3-L1 adipocytes.

Optimization of polysaccharides extraction from quince peels: partial characterization, antioxidant and antiproliferative properties

In this study, Box-Behnken Design was used to optimize the ultrasonic extraction of polysaccharides from quince peels (QPPs) by ascorbic acid and the effect of extraction temperature, extraction time and pH was evaluated. Under optimized conditions of temperature 90 °C, 60 min sonication time and pH = 3.26, the extraction yield, the galacturonic acid yield and the concentration of sample required to scavenge 50% of 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic) acid (ABTS) values of QPPs were respectively 10.25%, 3.86% and 1.35 mg/mL. The QPPs extracted under optimum conditions was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) and Size exclusion chromatography (SEC/MALS/VD/DRI). The monosaccharide analysis revealed that arabinose was the most abundant, followed by galactose, glucose, mannose and xylose. Moreover, QPPs showed significant antioxidant activities (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Ferric- reducing antioxidant power (FRAP)) and reduced viability of human Caco-2 and murine B-16 cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. Hence QPPs could be used as antitumor agent in functional foods andpharmaceutical industries.

Artesunate ameliorates high glucose-induced rat glomerular mesangial cell injury by suppressing the TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammasome pathway

Inflammatory response is important for the development and progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Artesunate (ART), an antimalarial drug, possesses anti-inflammatory effect and exhibits protective effect on chronic kidney diseases. However, the effect of ART on DN is unknown. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect and the molecular mechanism of ART on DN in an in vitro model. The rat mesangial cell line, HBZY-1, was induced by high glucose (HG; 30 mM d-glucose) in the presence or absence of ART (15 and 30 μg/ml) and incubated for 24 h. We found that HG induced the proliferation of HBZY-1 cells, while treatment with ART inhibited the cell proliferation. Treatment with ART inhibited HG-induced inflammatory cytokines production and expression of extracellular matrix (ECM). Besides, HG induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and inhibited the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity of HBZY-1 cells, and the effects were attenuated by ART treatment. ART decreased HG-induced the expression levels of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MyD88), nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) p-p65, and nod-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3). Inhibition of the TLR4/NF-κB pathway suppressed NLRP3 inflammasome in HBZY-1 cells. In conclusion, ART exhibited protective effect on HG-induced HBZY-1 cells by inhibiting the inflammatory response, oxidative stress and ECM accumulation. The TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammasome pathway was involved in the protective effect of ART. The results suggested that ART might be a potential therapy agent for the DN treatment.