Anticancer polysaccharides from natural resources: A review of recent research

From time immemorial, mushrooms have been valued by humankind as a culinary wonder and folk medicine in Oriental practice. The last decade has witnessed the overwhelming interest of western research fraternity in pharmaceutical potential of mushrooms. The chief medicinal uses of mushrooms discovered so far are as anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, hypocholesterolemic, anti-tumor, anti-cancer, immunomodulatory, anti-allergic, nephroprotective, and anti-microbial agents. The mushrooms credited with success against cancer belong to the genus Phellinus, Pleurotus, Agaricus, Ganoderma, Clitocybe, Antrodia, Trametes, Cordyceps, Xerocomus, Calvatia, Schizophyllum, Flammulina, Suillus, Inonotus, Inocybe, Funlia, Lactarius, Albatrellus, Russula, and Fomes. The anti-cancer compounds play crucial role as reactive oxygen species inducer, mitotic kinase inhibitor, anti-mitotic, angiogenesis inhibitor, topoisomerase inhibitor, leading to apoptosis, and eventually checking cancer proliferation. The present review updates the recent findings on the pharmacologically active compounds, their anti-tumor potential, and underlying mechanism of biological action in order to raise awareness for further investigations to develop cancer therapeutics from mushrooms. The mounting evidences from various research groups across the globe, regarding anti-tumor application of mushroom extracts unarguably make it a fast-track research area worth mass attention.

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Recent developments in mushrooms as anti-cancer therapeutics: a review.

Exopolysaccharide-Producing Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Under Salinity Condition

The role of edible mushrooms in health: Evaluation of the evidence

Medicinal mushrooms have been valued as natural sources of bioactive compounds since times immemorial and have been recognized as potential immunomodulating and anti-cancer agents. Their consumption has consistently been shown to have beneficial effects on human health. Cancer is a generic term for several types of diseases that can be chronic and are responsible for a large number of deaths worldwide. Although there has been considerable progress in modern cancer therapy research, difficulties in understanding the molecular behavior of various types of cancers and the numerous side effects experienced by patients from treatments means that this whole subject area is still problematic. Thus, biological immunotherapy using natural bioactive compounds as supportive treatments in conventional cancer therapies has become in vogue. Bioactive metabolites isolated from medicinal mushrooms have shown potential successes in cancer treatment as biological immunotherapeutic agents that stimulate the immune system against cancer cells. They also act as an effective source of anti-cancer agents, capable of interfering with cellular signal transduction pathways linked to cancer development and progression. In this review we compile available data on the characteristics of medicinal mushrooms that appear to be particularly effective as biological immunotherapeutic agents. Major consideration is given to biological constituents and the putative mechanisms of action by which bioactive compounds act on the human body. Consideration is also given to the benefits that have been claimed for the use of mushrooms in treating cancer and the future prospects of using medicinal mushrooms as potent supportive candidate bioagents for treatment of cancers is discussed.

Medicinal mushrooms in supportive cancer therapies: an approach to anti-cancer effects and putative mechanisms of action

Optimization for the production of exopolysaccharide from Fomes fomentarius in submerged culture and its antitumor effect in vitro.

Hispolon induces apoptosis in human gastric cancer cells through a ROS-mediated mitochondrial pathway.

Simultaneous increase of mycelial biomass and intracellular polysaccharide from Fomes fomentarius and its biological function of gastric cancer intervention.

Cordycepol C, a novel sesquiterpene isolated from the cultured mycelia of Cordyceps ophioglossoides, contains a hydroperoxy group and is cytotoxic to HepG2 cells. So far, no sesquiterpenes have been found in the genus Cordyceps and it would be interesting to investigate the antitumor efficacy as well as the mechanism of action of this unusual sesquiterpene. In this study, we showed that cordycepol C induced apoptosis of the HepG2 cells without affecting the normal liver cell line L-02. Cordycepol C caused poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) cleavage and triggered the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (Delta psi(m)) in HepG2 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner, resulting in the nuclear translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) and endonuclease G (Endo G). We also found that cordycepol C induced the expression of Bax protein, followed by its translocation from the cytosol to mitochondria in both wild type and p53 knockdown HepG2 cells. However, cordycepol C could not cause cleavages of procaspase-3, -8, and -9. Caspase activities were not increased and Z-VAD-fmk, a caspase inhibitor, could not prevent the apoptosis induced by cordycepol C. These findings indicate that cordycepol C induces caspase-independent apoptosis in HepG2 cells through a p53-independent and Bax-mediated mitochondrial pathway, leading to the nuclear translocation of AIF and Endo G. Our study provides the molecular mechanism by which cordycepol C induces apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells and indicates the potential use of cordycepol C as an antitumor agent.

Cordycepol C induces caspase-independent apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells.

Investigation of the cultured mycelia of Cordyceps ophioglossoides resulted in the isolation and characterization of three new unusual spiro[4.5]decane sesquiterpenes, cordycepol A (1), cordycepol B (2), and cordycepol C (3), and a new fumagillol analogue, cordycol (4). Their structures were established by spectroscopic means. The cytotoxic activities were also evaluated, compounds 3 and 4 showing their IC50 values in the range of 1233 mu g/ml against HeLa and HepG2 (Table 3). In addition, 3 and 4 were not obviously harmful towards normal liver cell lines LO2, showing IC50 values above 80 mu g/ml.

Zhao Zhao

Papers

Optimization for the production of exopolysaccharide from Fomes fomentarius in submerged culture and its antitumor effect in vitro.

Hispolon induces apoptosis in human gastric cancer cells through a ROS-mediated mitochondrial pathway.

Simultaneous increase of mycelial biomass and intracellular polysaccharide from Fomes fomentarius and its biological function of gastric cancer intervention.

Cordycepol C induces caspase-independent apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells.

Unusual Spirodecane Sesquiterpenes and a Fumagillol Analogue from Cordyceps ophioglossoides