Antitumor Components of Korean Basidiomycetes

To find antitumor components in the shake-cultured mycelia of Volvariella bombycina, the mycelia were extracted with hot water. After the extract was dialyzed and freeze-dried, a protein-polysaccharide fraction was obtained and examined for antitumor activity against the solid form of sarcoma 180 in ICR mice. It showed 60.3% inhibition ratio at a dose of 20mg/kg/day for 10 days. It was found to consist of a polysaccharide moiety and a protein moiety. After gel filtration on Sepharose 4B, Fraction B was obtained and showed the highest inhibition ratio of 71.1%. When the antitumor component was examined for immunopotentiating activity, it was found to increase the macrophage accumulation in the peritoneal cavity as well as the antibody production of the spleen cells of the mice.