Bioupdate Research-Health Benefits of Medicinal Mushroom » D-Fraction

[#2025-02] Maitake Konno, Sensuke et al. Anticancer Activity of Maitake D-Fraction

mushroom — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 16:53:40 +0000

We have been studying anticancer effect of Maitake D-fraction (PDF), isolated from maitake mushroom, on various cancer cells in the past 24 years. PDF was highly effective on those cells, profoundly reducing their cell viability. However, we have not yet examined PDF on other cancer cells, particularly pancreatic, cervical, and small-cell lung cancer cells, which had been known to be
dismal and deadly. Hence, we investigated if PDF alone or its combination with vitamin C (VC) might have a significant anticancer effect against those cancer cells. Pancreatic cancer AsPC-1, cervical cancer HT-3, and small-cell lung cancer H69AR cells, were treated with PDF or the combination of PDF and VC for 72 or 96 h and cell viability was determined to assess anticancer effect. The potential anticancer mechanism was also explored, focusing on glycolysis, chromatin structure, and apoptosis. A dose-dependent study showed that ≥30 μg/ml, ≥50 μg/ml, and ≥50 μg/ml of PDF led to the significant reduction in cell viability of AsPC-1, HT-3, and H69AR cells, respectively – the greater cell viability reduction is indicative of the greater anticancer effect.
When these cancer cells were treated with the combination of PDF and VC with their ineffective/negligeable concentrations, their cell viability was more profoundly reduced , demonstrating a synergistic potentiation. Moreover, such a potentiation was rimarily associated with increased oxidative stress (OXS), glycolysis inhibition, chromatin modifications, and ultimate apoptosis. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates anticancer effect of PDF and its synergistic potentiation with VC against AsPC-1, HT-3, and H69AR cells. Particularly, the enhancement of anticancer effect with the PDF/VC combination is rather extraordinary, accompanied by alterations in the essential cellular events. Therefore, PDF alone or its combination with VC may have some clinical implications in patients with various cancers.

[#2020-01] Maitake Konno, Sensuke et al. Chemosensitizing effect of maitake mushroom extract on carmustine cytoxicity in human bladder cancer cells

mushroom — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 15:41:10 +0000

This study shows that anticancer activity of BCNU is significantly potentiated with PDF in T24 cells. This is rather attributed to inactivated Gly-I and increased oxidative stress. Therefore, PDF appears to have a chemosensitizing effect capable of enhancing BCNU cytotoxicity, which may offer an alternative, improved therapeutic option for bladder cancer.

[#2018-09] Maitake Zhang, Michael et al. Enhanced Anticancer Effect by Combination of Proteoglucan and Vitamin K3

mushroom — Tue, 04 Sep 2018 20:30:52 +0000

Bladder cancer is the second common genitourinary malignancy next to prostate cancer in the United States.1 Nearly 82,000 new cases would be diagnosed and ~ 17,000 people may die this year (2018).1 Approximately 75% of all newly diagnosed cases will present nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) including stage Ta, T1 and carcinoma in situ,2,3 while other 25% are muscle invasive bladder cancers (MIBCs) or metastatic cancers.3 The primary treatment for NMIBC is transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT);4 however, NMIBC following TURBT has a high recurrence rate of up to 70%, of which ~ 20% may progress to advanced MIBC.5 The reason(s) for this high recurrence is/are not fully understood, but a multifocal origin of disease, as well as intrinsic acquired resistance to drugs, appears to be a major cause of such a high incidence of disease relapse.6 Hence, the primary therapeutic aim is to prevent multiple recurrences and progression to a more advanced, MIBC. To reduce or minimize the risk of tumor recurrence, intravesical immunotherapy with bacillus Calmette–Guerin (BCG), an attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis, is often recommended following TURBT.5,7 This intravesical BCG administration is indeed the most effective therapy among currently available therapeutic options – it has been shown to alter disease progression, reduce recurrence, and increase survival.7,8 However, up to 80% of patients will have recurrence and up to 45% of them may progress to MIBC within 5 years.9 In addition, its benefits are also outweighed by its severe side effects including cystitis, fever, sepsis, and allergic reactions10 so that BCG treatment is often withdrawn from the recommended 1–3 year treatment protocol. These concerns thus limit its use in clinical practice and demonstrate the need for a nontoxic, safe, effective treatment modality with few side effects.

[#2018-03] Maitake Alonso, Eliana Noelia et al. Antitumoral and antimetastatic activity of Maitake D-Fraction in triple-negative breast cancer

mushroom — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 17:41:46 +0000

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is associated with poor prognosis, high local recurrence rate and high rate of metastasis compared with other breast cancer subtypes. In addition, TNBC lacks a targeted therapy. This scenario highlights the need for novel compounds with high potential for TNBC treatment. In this regard, natural products are important sources of anticancer drugs. D-Fraction, a proteoglucan extracted from the edible and medicinal mushroom Grifola frondosa (Maitake), is a dietary supplement that has been shown to exert both immunostimulatory and immune-independent antitumoral effects on some cancer types. However, its antitumoral potential in TNBC is unknown. Therefore, we employed TNBC cells to investigate if D-Fraction is able to attenuate their aggressive phenotype. We found that D-Fraction decreases MDA-MB-231 cell viability through apoptosis induction and reduces their metastatic potential. D-Fraction increases cell-cell adhesion by increasing E-cadherin protein levels and β-catenin membrane localization, and increases cell-substrate adhesion. D-Fraction also decreases cell motility by affecting actin cytoskeleton rearrangements, and proteolytic activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9. Furthermore, D-Fraction decreases the invasive capacity of MDA-MB-231 cells. In concordance, D-Fraction retards tumor growth and reduces lung metastases in a xenograft model. Altogether, these results suggest the potential therapeutic role of D-Fraction in aggressive TNBC.

[#2017-03] Maitake Alonso, Eliana Noelia et al. Antitumoral Effects of D Fraction from Grifola Frondosa Maitake Mushroom in Breast Cancer (1)

mushroom — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 14:02:12 +0000

D-Fraction is protein-bound b-1,6 and b-1,3 glucans (proteoglucan) extracted from the edible and medicinal mushroom Grifola frondosa (Maitake). The antitumoral effect of D-Fraction has long been exclusively attributed to their immunostimulatory capacity. However, in recent years increasing evidence showed that D-Fraction directly affects the viability of canine and human tumor cells, independent of the immune system. Previously, we have reported that D-Fraction modulates the expression of genes associated with cell proliferation, cell death, migration, invasion, and metastasis in MCF7 human breast cancer cells. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to investigate if this modulation of gene expression by Maitake D-Fraction really modulates tumor progression. In
the present work, we demonstrate for the first time that Maitake D-Fraction is able to act directly on mammary tumor cells, modulating different cellular processes involved in the development and progression of cancer. We demonstrate that D-Fraction decreases cell viability, increases cell adhesion, and reduces the migration and invasion of mammary tumor cells, generating a less
aggressive cell behavior. In concordance with these results, we also demonstrate that D-Fraction decreases tumor burden and the number of lung metastases in a murine model of breast cancer.

[#2017-02] Maitake He, Xirui et al. Polysaccharides in Grifola frondosa mushroom and their health promoting properties, A review

mushroom — Tue, 10 Jan 2017 15:52:04 +0000

Grifola frondosa is a widely consumed edible and medicinal fungus, Ancient books record that it can boost qi and fortify the spleen, moisten the lung and protect the liver. Modern people mainly use it to assist in the treatment of diabetes mellitus and various cancers. Over the past three decades, G. frondosa polysaccharides were shown to possess various promising bioactivities, mainly including anti-tumor and immunomodulation, anti-oxidation, anti-hyperglycemia, and meanwhile can effectively act on the skin and hematopoietic stem cells. The purpose of the present review is to provide systematically reorganized information on structural characteristics, biological activities, and structure-activity relationship of G. frondosa polysaccharides to support their further therapeutic potentials and sanitarian functions.

[#2015-16] Maitake Masuda, Yuki et al. Soluble Beta glucan from Grifola frondosa induces tumor regression MD fraction

mushroom — Sat, 31 Oct 2015 14:49:31 +0000

The maturation of dendritic cells into more immunostimulatory dendritic cells by stimulation with different combinations of immunologic agents is expected to provide efficient, adoptive immunotherapy against cancer. Soluble b-glucan maitake D-fraction,
extracted from the maitake mushroom Grifola frondosa, acts as a potent immunotherapeutic agent, eliciting innate and adoptive immune responses, thereby contributing to its antitumor activity.

[#2015-04] Maitake Konno, Sensuke et al. Potent Anticancer Effect of PET-Fraction (PET-F) in Comparison with Other Commercial Products on Canine Cancer Cells

mushroom — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 17:47:57 +0000

A variety of nutritional supplements are commercially available for the potential therapeutic purpose for dogs and other domestic animals with cancers. However, the efficacy of these supplements on those cancer-bearing animals has not been verified and remains uncertain, due to the lack of the sufficient scientific studies/data. To address this important issue, we examined actual anticancer effects of five selected commercial products on the two types of canine cancer models in vitro. Among them, PET-Fraction (PET-F) obtained from maitake mushroom has been shown to have potent anticancer effect on canine cancer cells. In comparison with this PET-F, possible anticancer effects of the rest of four products were examined. Two of four products were found to have the significant anticancer effects on both cancer cells, while other two products had little effects. Nevertheless, PET-F exhibited the best anticancer effect. Cell cycle analysis indicated that the PET-F induced growth reduction was attributed to a G1 cell cycle arrest, and Western blot analysis further revealed that such a growth reduction was coupled with apoptosis. Moreover, anticancer activity of PET-F was remarkably enhanced with vitamin C, but no such synergistic effect was seen with other four products. Therefore, although two other products besides PET-F yet have anticancer activities, PET-F appears to be the most potent and promising commercial product that can be useful in effectively and safely treating canine cancers.

[#2014-12] Maitake Konno, Sensuke at al. Biological Significance and Medicinal Properties of the Maitake Mushroom

mushroom — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 15:13:24 +0000

Maitake mushroom (Grifola frondosa) is an edible, medicinal mushroom. It has been extensively studied for the past 30 years, revealing numberous medicinal properties that could provide great health benefits. Those include various physiological benefits ranging from immunomodulatory and antitumor activities to treatment for diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, viral infections (hepatitis B and human immunodeficiency virus), called “maitake D-fraction” and “maitake SX-fraction”. A number of scientific studies have been performed on these two maitake derivatives, which are thus well characterized. Maitake D-fraction consists of proteoglucan (protein-bound polysaccharide), or more specifically known as Beta-glucan. This Beta-glucan is an active component of D-fraction and its two major biological activities, immunomodulatory and antitumor, have been the main target for scientific and clinical research

[#2014-05] Maitake Freilich, Drew et al. Possible Chemosensitizing and Potent Anticancer Effects of D-Fraction in Combination with Vitamin C on Three Prevalent Urologic Cancer Cells

mushroom — Thu, 15 May 2014 19:46:21 +0000

Chemotherapy is currently one of the most common therapeutic options for cancer patients despite
the poor efficacy with considerable side effects. We then examined if D-fraction (DF), a bioactive
mushroom extract, could potentiate (poor) anticancer effects of those drugs in vitro. Three
urologic cancers, prostate, bladder, and kidney cancers, were tested with various chemotherapeutic
drugs and their combinations with DF. Compared to individual drugs alone, combinations of
drugs and DF have improved anticancer activity, resulting in the significant (P < 0.05) cell viability
reduction in all three cancer cells. As vitamin C (VC) has been postulated to potentiate the bioactivity
of DF, this possibility was also examined. The specific combination of DF (300 μg/ml) and VC
(200 μM) indeed led to the drastic (≥90%) viability reductions in all three cancer cells. To have a
better understanding of such a profound viability reduction, the effect of DF/VC combination on
cell cycle was examined next. Cell cycle analysis indicated that this combination induced a G1 cell
cycle arrest, which was also confirmed by the down-regulation of specific cell cycle regulators
(CDK2, CDK4, and cyclin D1) detected on western blots. Moreover, it was crucial to address if the
DF/VC-induced viability reduction could be also linked to apoptosis. Western blot analysis revealed
that anti-apoptotic bcl-2 was down-regulated while pro-apoptotic Bax was up-regulated
with DF/VC combination in all cancer cells, indicating induction of apoptosis. Therefore, the DF/VC
combination could ultimately induce apoptosis, accounting for the severe cell viability reduction.
In conclusion, DF appears to be a promising agent with chemosensitizing effect, enhancing the