Search

Many wild edible polypore mushrooms have medicinal value. In this study, we investigate the potential medicinal properties of the wild polypore mushroom Royoporus badius collected from north-central British Columbia, Canada. Water extract from R. badius was found to exhibit potent immunomodulatory activity. The extract was purified using DEAE-Sephadex anion-exchange chromatography as well as Sephacryl S-500 and HPLC BioSEC5 size-exclusion chromatography, to yield a novel polysaccharide-protein complex (IMPP-Rb).IMPP-Rb has a peak maxima molecular weight (Mp) of 950 kDa. GC-MS analyses showed that IMPP-Rb is composed predominantly of glucose (49.2%), galactose (11.3%), mannose (10.8%), rhamnose (9.6%), and galacturonic acid (8.2%), with smaller amounts of xylose (5.2%), fucose (2.8%), N-acetyl glucosamine (1.8%), and arabinose (1.2%). IMPP-Rb has multiple linkages, with 4-Glcp, 4-Manp, 6-Manp, 3,4-Manp, 4-Xylp, and 2-Rhap being the most prominent. IMPP-Rb is capable of inducing many cytokines in vitro and the protein component is indispensable for its immunomodulatory activity. IMPP-Rb has potential application as an immuno-stimulatory agent with pharmaceutical value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel polysaccharide EtGIPL1a was purified from fruiting bodies of Echinodontium tinctorium, a fungus unique to western North America. EtGIPL1a has an estimated weight average molecular weight of 275 kDa and is composed of glucose (54.3%), galactose (19.6%), mannose (11.1%), fucose (10.3%), glucuronic acid (4%), and rhamnose (0.6%). It has multiple glycosidic linkages, with 3-Glcp (28.9%), 6-Glcp (18.3%), 3,6-Glcp (13%), 4-GlcpA (9.2%), 6-Galp (3.9%), 2,6-Galp (2.6%), 3-Fucp (2.5%), 6-Manp (2.4%) being the most prominent, and unsubstituted glucose (15.3%), mannose (1.3%) and fucose (0.9%) as major terminal sugars. EtGIPL1a has a backbone containing mostly 3-substituted β-glucopyranose with 4-substituted glucopyranosyluronic acid. EtGIPL1a showed anti-proliferative activity against multiple cancer cell lines, with IC50 ranging from 50.6 to 1446 nM. Flow cytometry analyses confirmed that apoptosis induction is one mechanism for its anti-proliferative activity. EtGIPL1a should be further investigated for its potential anti-cancer activity in animal models, and for its possible utility in differentiation cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of a previously un-studied wild mushroom, Echinodontium tinctorium, collected from the forests of north-central British Columbia. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 macrophage model was used to study the in vitro anti-inflammatory activity. The crude alkaline extract demonstrated potent anti-inflammatory activity, and was further purified using a "bio-activity-guided-purification" approach. The size-exclusion and ion-exchange chromatography yielded a water-soluble anti-inflammatory polysaccharide (AIPetinc). AIPetinc has an average molecular weight of 5 kDa, and is a heteroglucan composed of mainly glucose (88.6%) with a small amount of galactose (4.0%), mannose (4.4%), fucose (0.7%), and xylose (2.3%). In in vivo settings, AIPetinc restored the histamine-induced inflammatory event in mouse gluteus maximus muscle, thus confirming its anti-inflammatory activity in an animal model. This study constitutes the first report on the bioactivity of Echinodontium tinctorium, and highlights the potential medicinal benefits of fungi from the wild forests of northern British Columbia. Furthermore, it also reiterates the need to explore natural resources for alternative treatment to modern world diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]