Structure characterization and immunocompetence of a glucan from the fruiting bodies of Cantharellus cibarius

Insights into chemical components, health-promoting effects, and processing impact of golden chanterelle mushroom Cantharellus cibarius

Cantharellus cibarius (CC) is a culinary mushroom with significant commercial potential due to its diverse components and bioactive functions. CC is rich in carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, vitamins, and aroma compounds while being low in fat and calories. Moreover, CC contains an abundance of bioactive substances including phenolic compounds, vitamin precursors, and indole derivatives. Numerous studies have claimed that CC has diverse functions such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, immunoregulation, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, neuroprotective, antidiabetic, and prebiotic effects in in vivo or in vitro settings. In addition, a variety of thermal, physical, chemical, and biological treatment methods have been investigated for the processing and preservation of CC. Consequently, this study aims to present a comprehensive review of the chemical composition, health benefits, and processing techniques of CC. Furthermore, the issue of heavy metal accumulation in CC has been indicated and discussed. The study highlights the potential of CC as a functional food in the future while providing valuable insights for future research and identifying areas requiring further investigation.

Classification, structure and mechanism of antiviral polysaccharides derived from edible and medicinal fungus

The deficiency of chemical-synthesized antiviral drugs when applied in clinical therapy, such as drug resistance, and the lack of effective antiviral drugs to treat some newly emerging virus infections, such as COVID-19, promote the demand of novelty and safety anti-virus drug candidate from natural functional ingredient. Numerous studies have shown that some polysaccharides sourcing from edible and medicinal fungus (EMFs) exert direct or indirect anti-viral capacities. However, the internal connection of fungus type, polysaccharides structural characteristics, action mechanism was still unclear. Herein, our review focus on the two aspects, on the one hand, we discussed the type of anti-viral EMFs and the structural characteristics of polysaccharides to clarify the structure-activity relationship, on the other hand, the directly or indirectly antiviral mechanism of EMFs polysaccharides, including virus function suppression, immune-modulatory activity, anti-inflammatory activity, regulation of population balance of gut microbiota have been concluded to provide a comprehensive theory basis for better clinical utilization of EMFs polysaccharides as anti-viral agents.

Structural analysis and macrophage activation of a novel β‑glucan isolated from Cantharellus cibarius

The present study was designed to investigate the structure and immunomodulatory activity of a polysaccharide. A novel acidic β-glucan (WCCP-A-b; molecular weight, 7.3 kDa) was purified from the fruiting bodies of the edible mushroom Cantharellus cibarius, which possesses high nutritional values. WCCP-A-b was composed primarily of glucose (89.7%) and glucuronic acid (8.8%). Methylation and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis suggested that WCCP-A-b contained β-D-1,6-glucan as its main chain, which was substituted at O-3 by β-1,3-D-Glcp oligosaccharides or a single-unit of β-Glcp residues. Minor β-1,4-D-GlcpA residues may also be present in the side chains. The degree of branching was ~20.9%. Moreover, WCCP-A-b possessed a macrophage activating effect by promoting the secretion of nitric oxide, TNF-α and IL-6 in a dose-dependent manner. At a cellular mechanistic level, WCCP-A-b activated macrophages via the MAPK signaling pathway. The present results provided useful information for supporting further investigations on the structure-activity association of polysaccharides from C. cibarius, and indicated that the novel β-glucan may be a potent natural immunomodulator, thus promoting the application of C. cibarius as a valuable source for functional food.

Branched mannans from the mushroom Cantharellus cibarius enhance the anticancer activity of natural killer cells against human cancers of lung and colon

Cantharellus cibarius branched mannans increase natural killer cells NK92 viability and proliferation and enhance their cytotoxicity against lung and colon cancer cells A549 and LS180, at the same time they do not affect lung and colon epithelial cells NL20 and CCD841 CoN.

Neuroprotective properties of Cantharellus cibarius polysaccharide fractions in different in vitro models of neurodegeneration

The percentage of people suffering from neurodegenerative diseases is constantly increasing, because of that searching for substances able to prevent or inhibit neuronal death sseems to be reasonable. Because of the high popularity the search of new neuroprotective agents we started from Cantharellus cibarius. Neuroprotective properties of C. cibarius polysaccharides fractions was investigated in different models of neurodegeneration including trophic stress, excitotoxicity and andoxidative stress. Fractions influence on neurons viability was examined using Neurite Outgrowth Staining, MTT and LDH tests, while antioxidant capacity was determined by commercial antioxidant assays. Performed studies revealed beneficial effect of C. cibarius fractions (CC2a, CC3) on neurons viability and neurite outgrowth in normal and different stress conditions. Both tested fractions have shown antioxidant capacity and effectively neutralize the negative changes induced by glutamatergic system activators. Discovered neuroprotective properties of investigated compounds suggested the their use for developing effective and safety therapeutic strategy for neurodegenerative diseases.