• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제18권12호
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• pp.1997-2003
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• 2008

Cordyceps militaris is well known as a traditional medicinal mushroom and has been shown to exhibit immunostimulatory and anticancer activities. In this study, we investigated the apoptosis induced by an aqueous extract of C. militaris (AECM) via the activation of caspases and altered mitochondrial membrane permeability in human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells. Exposure to AECM induced apoptosis, as demonstrated by a quantitative analysis of nuclear morphological change and a flow cytometric analysis. AECM increased hyperpolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential and promoted the activation of caspases. Both the cytotoxic effect and apoptotic characteristics induced by AECM treatment were significantly inhibited by z-DEVD-fmk, a caspase-3 inhibitor, which demonstrates the important role of caspase-3 in the observed cytotoxic effect. AECM-induced apoptosis was associated with the inhibition of Akt activation in a time-dependent manner, and pretreatment with LY294002, a PI3K/Akt inhibitor, significantly increased AECM-induced apoptosis. The results indicated that AECM-induced apoptosis may relate to the activation of caspase-3 and mitochondria dysfunctions that correlate with the inactivation of Akt.

• 동의생리병리학회지
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.1102-1106
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• 2004

To investigate the anti-proliferative effects of an aqueous extract of Cordyceps militaris (AECM) on the growth of human lung carcinoma cell line A549, we performed various biochemical experiments such as the effects of AECM on the cell proliferation and viability, the morphological changes, the effects on expression of apoptosis and cell growth-regulatory gene products. Results obtained are as follow; AECM treatment declined the cell viability and proliferation of A549 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The anti-proliferative effect by AECM treatment in A549 cells was associated with morphological changes such as membrane shrinking and cell rounding up. Taken together, these findings suggest that AECM-induced inhibition of human lung cancer cell proliferation is associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death via regulation of several major growth regulatory gene products, and C. militaris may have therapeutic potential in human lung cancer.

• 동의생리병리학회지
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.452-458
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• 2005

Cordyceps militaris is a medicinal fungus, which has been used for patient suffering from cancer in Oriental medicine. It was reported previously that C. militaris extracts are capable of inhibiting tumor growth, however, the anti-poliferative effects of human cancer cells have not been poorly understood. In this study, to elucidate the growth inhibitory mechanisms of human cancer cells by treatment of aqueous extract of C. militaris (AECM) we investigated the anti-proliferative effects of AECM in human leukemia U937 cell line. AECM treatment inhibited the growth of U937 cells and induced the apoptotic cell death in a concentration-dependent manner, which was associated with morphological changes. We observed the up-regulation of cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor p21(WAF1/CIP1) by p53-independent manner and activation of caspase-3 in AECM-treated U937 cells, however, the activity of caspase-9 was remained unchanged. Additionally, AECM treatment caused a dose-dependent inhibition of the expression of telomere regulatory gene products such as human telomere reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and telomerase-associated protein-1 (TEP-1). Taken together, these findings suggest that AECM-induced inhibition of human leukemic cell proliferation is associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death via modulation of several major growth regulatory gene products, and C. militaris may have therapeutic potential in human lung cancer.

• 한국식품영양과학회지
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• 제37권6호
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• pp.714-720
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• 2008

본 연구에서는 동충하초(C. militaris)의 항암작용 기전 해석을 위하여 Hep3B 간암세포의 apoptosis 유발에 미치는 동충하초 열수추출물(WECM)의 영향을 조사하였으며, apoptosis 조절에 중요한 몇 가지 유전자들의 발현 및 활성 변화를 조사하였다. AECM 처리에 의한 Hep3B 세포의 증식억제는 형태적 변형을 동반한 apoptosis 유도와 연관성이 있음을 DAPI 염색을 통한 apoptotic body 출현의 증가 및 flow cytometry 분석에 의한 sub-G1 기에 속하는 세포 빈도의 증가로 확인하였다. AECM 처리에 의한 apopotosis 유도에서 Bcl-2 family에 속하는 몇 가지 유전자들의 발현은 큰 변화가 없었으나, caspase-3 및 -8의 활성이 매우 높게 증가 되었으며 이는 PARP 및 ${\beta}$-catenin 단백질의 분해와 연관성이 있었다. 또한 caspase-3 선택적 저해제인 z-DEVD-fmk로 caspase-3의 활성을 인위적으로 차단시켰을 경우, AECM에 의한 apoptois 유도 현상이 유의적으로 감소되어 AECM에 의한 Hep3B 세포의 apoptosis 유발에 caspase-3이 중요한 역할을 하고 있음을 알 수 있었다. 본 연구의 결과만으로 동충하초에 의한 간암세포의 증식억제 기전을 명확하게 제시할 수는 없으나, 이상의 결과들은 동충하초의 생화학적 항암기전 해석을 이해하는데 중요한 기초자료로서 활용될 수 있을 것으로 생각된다.