Immunoceuticals can be considered as substances having immunotherapeutic efficacy when taken orally. More than 50 mushroom species have yielded potential immunoceuticals that exhibit anticancer activity in vitro or in animal models and of these, six have been investigated in human cancers. All are non-toxic and very well tolerated. Lentinan and schizophyllan have little oral activity. Active Hexose Correlated Compound (AHCC) is poorly defined but has shown early clinical promise. Maitake D-Fraction has limited proof of clinical efficacy to date, but controlled research is underway. Two proteoglycans from Coriolus versicolor – PSK (Polysaccharide-K) and PSP (Polysaccharide-Peptide – have demonstrated the most promise. In Japanese trials since 1970, PSK significantly extended survival at five years or beyond in cancers of the stomach, colon-rectum, esophagus, nasopharynx, and lung (non-small cell types), and in a HLA B40-positive breast cancer subset. PSP was subjected to Phase II and Phase III trials in China. In double-blind trials, PSP significantly extended five-year survival in esophageal cancer. PSP significantly improved quality of life, provided substantial pain relief, and enhanced immune status in 70-97 percent of patients with cancers of the stomach, esophagus, lung, ovary, and cervix. PSK and PSP boosted immune cell production, ameliorated chemotherapy symptoms, and enhanced tumor infiltration by dendritic and cytotoxic T-cells. Their extremely high tolerability, proven benefits to survival and quality of life, and compatibility with chemotherapy and radiation therapy makes them well suited for cancer management regimens.
Department of Biology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong.
Abstract
In the last three decades, numerous polysaccharides and polysaccharide-protein complexes have been isolated from mushrooms and used as a source of therapeutic agents. The most promising biopharmacological activities of these biopolymers are their immunomodulation and anti-cancer effects. They are mainly present as glucans with different types of glycosidic linkages such as (1–>3), (1–>6)-beta-glucans and (1–>3)-alpha-glucans, and as true herteroglycans, while others mostly bind to protein residues as polysaccharide-protein complexes. Three antitumor mushroom polysaccharides, i.e. lentinan, schizophyllan and protein-bound polysaccharide (PSK, Krestin), isolated respectively, from Lentinus edodes, Schizophyllum commune and Coriolus versicolor, have become large market items in Japan. Lentinan and schizophyllan are pure beta-glucans, whereas PSK is a protein-bound beta-glucan. A polysaccharide peptide (PSP), isolated from a strain of Coriolus versicolor in China, has also been widely used as an anti-cancer and immunomodulatory agent. Although the mechansim of their antitumor action is still not completely clear, these polysaccharides and polysaccharide-protein complexes are suggested to enhance cell-mediated immune responses in vivo and in vitro and act as biological response modifiers. Potentiation of the host defense system may result in the activation of many kinds of immune cells that are vitally important for the maintenance of homeostasis. Polysaccharides or polysaccharide-protein complexes are considered as multi-cytokine inducers that are able to induce gene expression of vaious immunomodulatory cytokines and cytokine receptors. Some interesting studies focus on investigation of the relationship between their structure and antitumor activity, elucidation of their antitumor mechanism at the molecular level, and improvement of their various biological activities by chemical modifications.
Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Kinki University, 3327-204 Nakamachi, Nara, Japan
Abstract
One-electron oxidation activity, as measured by ethylene generation from 2-keto-4-thiomethylbutyric acid, phenol oxidase activity, and the generation of hydroxyl radical were examined in cultures of the lignin-degrading white-rot basidiomycete fungus, Trametes (Coriolus) versicolor. The activity levels of specific lignin-degrading enzymes and cellulases, as well as the rate of wood degradation, also were examined. The fungus secreted a low-molecular-weight substance (M(r) 1000-5000) that catalyzed a redox reaction between molecular oxygen and an electron donor, to produce the hydroxyl radical via hydrogen peroxide. During wood decay, T. versicolor also produced significant amounts of laccase and lignin peroxidase, carboxymethyl cellulase, and Avicelase. The roles of the hydroxyl radical, phenol oxidases, and cellulases in wood degradation by white-rot fungi are discussed. That the hydroxyl radical produced by the low-molecular-weight substance secreted by T. versicolor results in new phenolic substructures on the lignin polymer, making it susceptible to attack by laccase or manganese peroxidase is suggested.
PMID: 10704993 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]
Fungal Biotechnology Group, School of Biosciences, University of Westminster, London, UK.
Abstract
Laccase, purified from Coriolus versicolor, removed pentachlorophenol (PCP) from solution at pH 5, depending on initial PCP concentration and amount of laccase. With 100 units of laccase, 100% of 25 microg ml(-1) PCP and 60% of 200 microg ml(-1) PCP were removed respectively over 72 h. No free chloride was released in the reaction. In reaction with 100 microg PCP, products were primarily polymers (about 80,000 MW) with only 2-3 pg of o- and p-chloranils formed. Polymers were stable to acid hydrolysis and no release of PCP, or other low-molecular-weight products, was detected over several weeks. Laccase has a potential use in the biotreatment of aqueous effluents containing PCP, with polymerised products being removed from solution due to their high molecular weight.
Dokuz Eylul University, Department of Environmental Engineering, Buca, Izmir, Turkey
Abstract
Effects of environmental conditions such as pH, media composition, carbon and nitrogen sources, TOC/N ratio, and dyestuff concentrations on decolorization of reactive phytalocyanin type textile dyestuff Everzol Turquoise Blue G by white rot fungi, Coriolus versicolor 20) or low nitrogen concentration was essential for effective decolorization of the dyestuff. Dyestuff concentration should be lower than 500 mg/l for complete decolorization. Only partial decolorization was observed for dyestuff concentrations above 500 mg/l. Adsorption of the dyestuff on surfaces of the fungi was insignificant (<20%).
PMID: 10713211 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]
Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, Korea. ckim2@iupui.edu
Abstract
Heterokaryotic nuclear hybrids overcoming the natural barriers of incompatibility have been studied in basidiomycetes. To produce these nuclear hybrids between incompatible mushrooms, which have several potent pharmacological effects, nuclear transfer was performed between Lentinula edodes and Coriolus versicolor. Nuclei from serine auxotrophs of Lentinula edodes, LE207 (Ser-) were transferred into the protoplasts of arginine auxotrophs of Coriolus versicolor, CV17 (Arg-), using 30% polyethylene glycol 4000 in 10 mM CaCl2-glycine solution (pH 8.0). Nuclear transfer progenies were selected by nutritional complementation on minimal media supplemented with 0.6 M sucrose. The progenies were classified based on colony morphology to L. edodes-like, C. versicolor-like and non-parental type. Most of the progenies grew slower than either parent. The number of nuclei per cell was similar but the DNA content varied between progenies. The isozyme patterns of nuclear hybrids resembled either of the parent profiles or showed a mixed profile.
Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Cracow.
Abstract
Blue laccase from Coriolus versicolor and blue and yellow laccases from Panus tigrinus were isolated, purified and studied in acetate buffer solutions, with and without addition of various amounts of ethanol, using syringaldazine and 2,6-dimethoxyphenol as substrates. Effect of ethanol on blue laccases could be successfully described using the mixed inhibition model, over the range of 0-2.5 M ethanol concentrations. Yellow laccase from P. tigrinus behaves differently, which may be explained by the presence of some extra molecules in its structure, which possibly stabilize the enzyme and might be exchanged in ethanol solutions.
Department of Biochemistry, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan.
Abstract
Natural killer (NK) cells are susceptible to reactive oxygen species (ROS), and lose the activity by the effects of ROS. Cancer bearing hosts usually suffer from oxidative stress (OS), and the NK-activity decreases to a significantly lower level than normal controls. Superoxide dismutase (SOD)-mimicking substances, such as protein-bound polysaccharide of Coriolus versicolor (Fr) QUEL (PSK) and iron-chelating chlorine e6-Na (FeCNa), can restore the NK-activity of cancer bearing hosts, when collaborating with catalase. Incorporation of 3H-thymidine by ROS-treated NK-cells is not affected, indicating that these cells are still active in the nucleic acid metabolism. Intraperitoneal administration of anti-Asialo GM1 antibody extinguished the NK-activity. NK-cells affected by ROS lost the adherence to target cancer cells in both in vitro and in vivo. ROS may change the surface charge of NK-cells to anionic, resulting in an inability of adhesion to target cancer cells which usually show the negative surface charge.
Research Laboratory of Free Radical Medicine, First Military Medical University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China.
Abstract
Polysaccharide krestin (PSK) is a protein-bound polysaccharide extracted from the sporophore Coriolus versicolor. Previously, we found that PSK could reduce the oxidative injury that oxidised low-density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) produced in monocytes/macrophages, and therefore have some pro-phylactic or therapeutic effect on atherosclerosis. Glutathione peroxidases, including selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (SeGPx) and non-selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (non-SeGPx, also called glutathione S-transferase [GST]), play an important role in the defence against oxidative injury. In order to find out if the effects of PSK were associated with antioxidant enzymes, we investigated its effect on glutathione peroxidase activity and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in mouse peritoneal macrophages. Results showed that PSK enhanced SeGPx and non-SeGPx activity, and increased SeGPx and GST-P (pi class GST) mRNA in mouse peritoneal macrophages. In addition, the induction by PSK of the two glutathione peroxidases could be blocked by cycloheximide (30 micrograms/mL), but 5 micrograms/mL actinomycin D and 50 micrograms/mL acetovanilone (a superoxide inhibitor) had no effect. We conclude that PSK improved glutathione peroxidase activity through transcriptional induction of mRNA expression.
Department of Science, Faculty of Education, Inonu University, Malatya, Turkey.
Abstract
Wastewater from olive oil mill was decolorized (and its chemical oxygen demand reduced in static cultivation) using the fungi Coriolus versicolor, Funalia trogii, Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Pleurotus sajor-caju. The effect of cotton stalk on decolorizing and COD removing capability was demonstrated. P. chrysosporium (in 20% medium with cotton stalk) reduced the COD by 48% and color by 58%, F. trogii (in 30% medium with cotton stalk)) by 51 and 55%, respectively.