Lethal protein in mass consumption edible mushroom Agrocybe aegerita linked to strong hepatic toxicity

From inflammation to immune regulation: The dual nature of dietary lectins in health and disease

Beans, vegetables, fruits, and mushrooms offer a delightful array of fragrances and an abundance of nutrients, including essential vitamins, minerals, protein rich in vital amino acids, and omega-3 fatty acids. However, they may also contain lectins, carbohydrate-binding proteins with potential health risks. While some lectins exhibit stability and resistance to digestion, posing threats to gastrointestinal integrity and immune function, others, such as those from butterfly peas and pink bauhinia, show immunomodulatory properties that could bolster immune responses. While some lectins, such as phytohemagglutinin, have been associated with inflammatory responses and autoimmune disorders, others, such as wheat lectin, have shown potential benefits in nutrient absorption. Additionally, mushroom lectins, while generally nontoxic, exhibit immunomodulatory properties with implications for immune health. Despite their potential benefits, challenges remain in understanding lectin dosages, administration routes, and mechanisms of action. Further research is needed to elucidate the intricate roles of dietary lectins in immune function and autoimmune disorders. This review surveys the immunomodulatory effects of dietary lectins from plants and mushrooms, shedding light on their mechanisms of action. From inflammation modulation to potential autoimmune implications, the diverse roles of dietary lectins have been explored, highlighting avenues for future investigations and therapeutic exploration.

Preparation and antitumor activity of selenium nanocomposite stabilized by AAGL from Agerocybe aegerita

Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) have limited bioavailability because of their poor stability in aqueous solutions. AAGL, a naturally active protein, extracted from Agrocybe aegerita has strong antitumor activity. However, whether AAGL can been used to stabilize SeNPs, and exerts anti-lung cancer effects remains unknown. In this study, a novel nanocomposite, AAGL-SeNPs, was prepared using AAGL-encapsulated SeNPs. The particle size of the AAGL-SeNPs was approximately 206.1 nm, which was uniform and well dispersed in aqueous solution and showed satisfactory stability. AAGL-SeNPs was non-toxic and reduced the hepatotoxicity of AAGL in mice. Importantly, AAGL-SeNPs inhibited the proliferation of lung cancer cells and suppressed tumor growth in tumor-bearing mice. AAGL-SeNPs enhanced the cytotoxic effects on lung cancer cells by stimulating immune cells. In addition, the combination of AAGL-SeNPs and osimertinib inhibited lung cancer, and AAGL-SeNPs reversed osimertinib resistance in H1975 cells. Mechanistically, Krüppel-like transcriptional factor 4 (KLF4) was identified by data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry (DIA-MS), and its expression levels in lung cancer increased after AAGL-SeNPs treatment. This study demonstrated that nanocomposite AAGL-SeNPs is stable, safe, and has excellent antitumor efficacy, which will be a potential therapeutic drug for lung cancer treatment.

Antimicrobial Efficacy of Edible Mushroom Extracts: Assessment of Fungal Resistance

Antimicrobial efficacy of the water or methanolic extracts of three medicinal mushrooms Taiwanofungus camphoratus, Agaricus blazei Murrill, and Ganoderma lucidum (Curtis) P. Karst were investigated against yeast and filamentous fungal pathogens as well as against commensal and pathogenic bacteria. The methanolic extract of T. camphoratus (TcM) exhibited both potent antifungal and antibacterial activity, while the water extract of T. camphoratus (TcW) showed limited antibacterial activity against Listeria monocytogenes. Neither the methanolic nor water extracts of A. blazei and G. lucidum exhibited antimicrobial activity. In the risk assessment testing monitoring the development of fungal tolerance to mushroom extracts in food matrices, two P. expansum mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) mutants exhibited a tolerance to TcM. In a proof-of-concept bioassay using the natural benzoic salicylaldehyde (SA), P. expansum and A. fumigatus MAPK antioxidant mutants showed similar tolerance to SA, suggesting that natural ingredients in TcM such as benzoic derivatives could negatively affect the efficacy of TcM when antioxidant mutants are targeted. Conclusion: TcM could be developed as a food ingredient having antimicrobial potential. The antimicrobial activity of TcM operates via the intact MAPK antioxidant signaling system in microbes, however, mutants lacking genes in the MAPK system escape the toxicity triggered by TcM. Therefore, caution should be exercised in the use of TcM so as to not adversely affect food safety and quality by triggering the resistance of antioxidant mutants in contaminated food.

Edible Mushrooms: A Comprehensive Review on Bioactive Compounds with Health Benefits and Processing Aspects

Mushrooms are well-known functional foods due to the presence of a huge quantity of nutraceutical components. These are well recognized for their nutritional importance such as high protein, low fat, and low energy contents. These are rich in minerals such as iron, phosphorus, as well as in vitamins like riboflavin, thiamine, ergosterol, niacin, and ascorbic acid. They also contain bioactive constituents like secondary metabolites (terpenoids, acids, alkaloids, sesquiterpenes, polyphenolic compounds, lactones, sterols, nucleotide analogues, vitamins, and metal chelating agents) and polysaccharides chiefly β-glucans and glycoproteins. Due to the occurrence of biologically active substances, mushrooms can serve as hepatoprotective, immune-potentiating, anti-cancer, anti-viral, and hypocholesterolemic agents. They have great potential to prevent cardiovascular diseases due to their low fat and high fiber contents, as well as being foremost sources of natural antioxidants useful in reducing oxidative damages. However, mushrooms remained underutilized, despite their wide nutritional and bioactive potential. Novel green techniques are being explored for the extraction of bioactive components from edible mushrooms. The current review is intended to deliberate the nutraceutical potential of mushrooms, therapeutic properties, bioactive compounds, health benefits, and processing aspects of edible mushrooms for maintenance, and promotion of a healthy lifestyle.

Bioactive components of mushrooms: Processing effects and health benefits

Mushrooms have been recognized for their culinary attributes for long and were relished in the most influential civilizations in history. Currently, they are the focus of renewed research because of their therapeutic abilities. Nutritional benefits from mushrooms are in the form of a significant source of essential proteins, dietary non-digestible carbohydrates, unsaturated fats, minerals, as well as various vitamins, which have enhanced its consumption, and also resulted in the development of various processed mushroom products. Mushrooms are also a crucial ingredient in traditional medicine for their healing potential and curative properties. The literature on the nutritional, nutraceutical, and therapeutic potential of mushrooms, and their use as functional foods for the maintenance of health was reviewed, and the available literature indicates the enormous potential of the bioactive compounds present in mushrooms. Future research should be focused on the development of processes to retain the mushroom bioactive components, and valorization of waste generated during processing. Further, the mechanisms of action of mushroom bioactive components should be studied in detail to delineate their diverse roles and functions in the prevention and treatment of several diseases.

The protective effects of the Lactarius deliciosus and Agrocybe cylindracea mushrooms on histopathology of carbon tetrachloride induced oxidative stress in rats

We investigated the protective effects of L. deliciosus and A. cylindracea supplementation against carbon tetrachloride (CCI₄) induced oxidative stress by measuring levels of adenosine deaminase (ADA) and myeloperoxidase (MPO), and by observing histopathological changes in liver and kidney tissues of rats. We divided 36 rats into six groups: control, CCl₄, L. deliciosus, A. cylindracea, CCl₄ + L. deliciosus, and CCl₄ + A. cylindracea. We found that administration of CCI₄, A. cylindracea, and CCl₄ + A. cylindracea increased MPO and ADA levels. We observed severe hepato-renal degenerative and necrotic lesions in the CCI₄, A. cylindracea and CCl₄ + A. cylindracea groups. Severe lesions of the liver and kidney were not observed with A. cylindracea administration. CCI₄ induced hepato-renal lesions were ameliorated by L. deliciosus extract supplementation. L. deliciosus could be an important dietary antioxidant for preventing histologic lesions in liver and kidney due to CCI₄ induced oxidative stress in rats.

Critical role of IL-1β in the pathogenesis of Agrocybe aegerita galectin-induced liver injury through recruiting T cell to liver

Acute liver failure (ALF) can be the consequence of various etiologies, which immune response plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis. For the diversity of etiologies, more animal models are still needed in this field. Here, we developed a new acute liver injury mouse model induced by a fungal lectin AAGL (Agrocybe aegerita galectin). Intravenous injection of AAGL could induce the infiltration and activation of T, NKT and NK cells in liver and T cell played an important role in the pathogenesis. However, compared with the widely used concanavalin A model, AAGL model showed different immune mechanism. Transcriptome analysis of live tissue suggested that inflammation mediated by chemokine and cytokine signaling pathway was different between AAGL and Con A model. Fluorescent quantitative PCR verification assay showed that IL-1β was expressed much higher in AAGL-treated mice and anti-IL-1β could ameliorate AAGL-induced liver injury by inhibiting NF-κB and p38 signaling pathway. The expression of CXCL9 which was responsible for T cell infiltration in liver was also inhibited in AAGL model. We found a critical role of IL-1β in the pathogenesis of AAGL model through recruiting T cells to liver, which highlighted that IL-1β antibody might be a candidate therapy for ALF.

Biological responses in Balb/c mice after long-term parenteral administration of the light subunit of mushroom tyrosinase

Light subunit of mushroom tyrosinase (LSMT) is a protein of unknown function from mushroom Agaricus bisporus that has been demonstrated to permeate through rat intestine ex vivo. Thus, it can be absorbed in the intestine, thereby holding a promise as a drug carrier for oral administration, similar to HA-33 protein from botulinum, one of the closest structural homologs of LSMT. However, the safety of LSMT should be ensured prior to its use. Here, we described biological response of LSMT upon weekly intraperitoneal administration of 50 μg/day to the Balb/c mice for 12 weeks. Motoric and behavior profiles, as well as the index of main organs (liver, spleen, lung, heart, and kidney), and body weight, were not significantly changed as compared with the control group. Also, no IgG was detected in the serum. The results suggest that LSMT is safe for further development.

Identification of GlcNAcylated alpha-1-antichymotrypsin as an early biomarker in human non-small-cell lung cancer by quantitative proteomic analysis with two lectins

Background:

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the main type of lung cancer with high mortality rates in worldwide. There is a need to identify better biomarkers to detect NSCLC at an early stage as this will improve therapeutic effect and patient survival rates.

Methods:

Two lectins (AAL/AAGL and AAL2/AANL), which specifically bind to tumour-related glycan antigens, were first used to enrich serum glycoproteins from the serum of early NSCLC patients, benign lung diseases subjects and healthy individuals. The samples were investigated by using iTRAQ labelling and LC-MS/MS.

Results:

A total of 53 differentially expressed proteins were identified by quantitative proteomics and four glycoproteins (AACT, AGP1, CFB and HPX) were selected for further verification by western blotting. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed AACT was the best candidate for early NSCLC diagnosis of the four proteins, with 94.1% sensitivity in distinguishing early tumour Stage (IA+IB) from tumour-free samples (healthy and benign samples, HB). The GlcNAcylated AACT was further detected by lectin-based ELISA and has better advantage in clinical application than total AACT. The GlcNAcylated AACT can effectively differentiate Stage I from HB samples with an AUC of 0.908 and 90.9% sensitivity at a specificity of 86.2%. A combination of GlcNAcylated AACT and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was able to effectively differing Stage I from HB samples (AUC=0.914), which significantly improve the specificity of CEA. The combination application also has the better clinical diagnostic efficacy in distinguishing cancer (NSCLC) from HB samples than CEA or GlcNAcylated AACT used alone, and yielded an AUC of 0.817 with 93.1% specificity.

Conclusions:

Our findings suggest that the GlcNAcylated AACT will be a promising clinical biomarker in diagnosis of early NSCLC.