• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.921-927
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• 2001

This study was performed to investigated the effects on the cytotoxicity and antigenotoxicity of Cordyceps militaris extracts on the human cancer cell lines. The ethanol extract and five fractions which were hexane, chloroform, ethylacetate, butanol and aqueous were screened for crytotoxicity on human lung carcinoma(A549). human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) human epitheloid carcinoma(HeLa), human fibrosarcoma(HT1080) human hepatocellular carcinoma(Hep3B), human gastric carcinoma(KATOIII) and chronic myelogenous leukemia(K562) cell by SRB and MTT assays. The results showed that growth inhibition rates of the human cancer cell in the presence of Cordyceps militaris were inhibited with increasing concentration of the extract. The ethanol extract from Cordyceps militaris had strong inhibitory effects in1 mg/mL treatment by SRB assay , showing 89.4%, 85.7%, 72.9% and 65.5% inhibition in HT1080, HeLa, Hep3B and A549, respectively. The treatment of 1 mg/mL hexane fraction by SRB assay had the strongest cytotoxicity with 97.0% on HT1080 followed by MCF-7(92.9%) and HeLA(90.3%). The inhibition ration on KATOIII by MTT assay was much higher in the butanol (83.7%) and aqueous (80.4%) than in the ethanol extract (61.5%) And also, K562 showed similar tendency with KATOIII. The effects of Cordyceps militaris extracts on the frequencies of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MNPCEs) induced by N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidime(MNNG) were investigated in the bone-marrow cells of ICR male mice. The amount of 10, 20, 40 and 80 mg/kg of each extract were administered to animals immediately after injection of MNNG, and the exposure time was 36 hours. Significant reductions(p<0.05) with 39.7%, 52.7%, 71.4% and 83.9% were observed in the frequencies of MNPCE when 10, 20, 40 and 80 mg/kg of the hexane fraction of Coryceps militarus extracts were given to the mice.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2022.09a
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• pp.115-115
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• 2022

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been estimating the potential of insects as human food and animal feed for convincing food security since 2010. On account of this reason, Tenebrio molitor larvae have been gaining considerable attention as an alternative protein source for various foods. However, consumers do not prefer them because of their disgusting appearance. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a method that improve their appearance as to lead to T. molitor larvae consumption. In this study, T. molitor larvae which is prepared for optimally sampling conditions (shade drying, 30 min boiling after hot air drying, 30 min steaming after hot air drying), were cultured with Cordyceps militaris mycelia, and measured growth and density of mycelial. Also analyzed the cordycepin and adenosine content compared with commercial C. militaris. As a result, T. molitor larvae cultivated with C. militaris mycelia showed the highest cordycepin content (13.75 mg/g) was observed in optimal sampling conditions (shade drying). Therefore, we report that the methods which T. molitor larvae cultivated with C. militaris mycelia not only improve their appearance but also increase cordycepin content, which can be contributed to lead T. molitor larvae consumption.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.804-813
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• 2008

Cordyceps militaris, the Chinese medicinal fungal genus Cordyceps, is reported to possess many pharmacological activities including immunological stimulating, anti-cancer, anti-virus and anti-infection activities. However, the molecular mechanisms of C. militaris on biochemical actions in cancer have not been clearly elucidated yet. In the present study, we investigated the anti-proliferative activity of the water extract of C. militaris (WECM) in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells. It was found that WECM could inhibit the cell growth in a dose-dependent manner, which was associated with morphological changes and apoptotic cell death such as formation of apoptotic bodies and increased populations of apoptotic sub-G1 phase. Apoptotic cell death of HepG2 cells by WECM was connected with a up-regulation of pro-apoptotic Bax expression, tumor suppressor p53 and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 (WAF1/CIP1). In addition, WECM treatment induced the proteolytic activation of caspase-3 and a concomitant degradation and/or inhibition of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), ${\beta}-catenin$ and phospholipase $(PLC)-{\gamma}1$ protein. Furthermore, caspase-3 inhibitor, z-DEVD-fmk, significantly inhibited WECM-induced apoptosis demonstrating the important role of caspase-3 in the observed cytotoxic effect. Taken together, these findings provide important new insights into the possible molecular mechanisms of the anti-cancer activity of C. militaris.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2002

Cultural characteristics of Cordyceps militaris preserved in EFCC, Kangwon National University were investigated for the mass production. The higher mycelial density of C. militaris was observed in Sabouraud's yeast and Yeast Malt agars, but the higher mycelial growth in Mushroom Minimal agar than other agars. The mycelium of C. militaris was observed to grow well at $25^{\circ}C$ and pH 6.0 respectively. The dextrose was found the best suitable energy source among the carbohydrates used for its mycelial growth, while the fructose or lactose observed to be well for mycelial growth. Hemoglobin was observed to be the best among the protein sources used for mycelial growth, while tryptone found to be the best in the spore formation. Similarly, the mycelial growth was best in mineral salts of $KH_2PO_4$ or $K_2HPO_4$ and the optimum C/N ratio was 100 : 1.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.416-418
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• 2009

The hepatoprotective effect of Cordyceps militaris culture broth was determined using HaM/ICR strain mice. Compared to control, the intra-peritoneal injection of benzo($\alpha$)pyrene (B($\alpha$)P) remarkably increased the activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in the serum and the level of lipid peroxide (LPO) in liver tissue, which mean the liver was damaged by B($\alpha$)P. However, compared to B($\alpha$)P, oral administration of C. militaris culture broth showed decrement of AST, ALT, and LPO activities and increment GST activity and GSH level in liver tissue. These suggest that C. militaris culture broth recovered hepatic damage induced by B($\alpha$)P.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.78-83
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• 2005

The optimum conditions of Cordyceps militaris mycelial growth, purification and characteristics of branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase [BCAT(EC 2.6.1.42)] in this mycelium were studied. Optimum pH, temperature and medium of culture of mycelia were 5.5, $22.5^{\circ}C$ and Hamada medium (HM), respectively. BCAT in homogenate of this mycelia was precipitated by 20-40% saturated solution of ammonium sulfate and then purified by DEAE (diethylaminoethyl)-Sephadex A-50 column chromatography with linear concentration gradient and Sephadex G-200 gel filtration. A single band of purified enzyme was detected on SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis). Optimum pH and temperature of BCAT were found to be 7.8 and $29^{\circ}C$, respectively. It showed activity toward L-leucine, L-isoleucine and L-valine as a substrate. The Km values of this enzyme for L-leucine were determined to be 5.88 mM for L-leucine.

• Mycobiology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.46-51
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• 2010

The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro anti-inflammatory effect of hot water extract from Cordyceps militaris fruiting bodies (CMWE) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated nitric oxide (NO) production, tumor necrosis factor-$\alpha$ (TNF-$\alpha$) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) release in RAW 264.7 cells. The treatment of macrophages with various concentrations of hot CMWE significantly reduced LPS-induced production as well as NO, TNF-$\alpha$ and IL-6 secretion in a concentration-dependent manner. These results suggest that CMWE have potent inhibitory effects on the production of these inflammatory mediators.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.784-788
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• 2000

Hypolipidemic effect of exo-polymers(EPs) form submerged mycelial culture of Cordyceps militaris was investigated in male Sprague-Dawley rats. For a dose-dependent study, EPs were administered at the level of 50-100 mg/kg body weight (BW) and the data was compared with the saline administered control group. A significant reduction of both the plasma total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) was registered under the influence of EPs. It reduced the lowe density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol level as much as 40.5%. Levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) choloesterol did not vary significantly within the different experimental groups, but the HDL: TC ratio showed consistently a high value with the increasing dose. The effects of cultural conditions (pH and temperature) in mycelial growth and EPs production were studied. Both the biomass and EPs were produced in a wide range of pH and temperature.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.327-331
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• 2002

The purpose of this research was to investigate the immuno-modulatory effect and anti-carcinogenic property of Cordyceps militaris(CM) and/or Paecilomyces japonicus (PJ). The proliferation of cultured splenocytes and thymocytes were enhanced by the addition of 10 ㎍/ml of CM and/or PJ. B lymphocytes subpopulation in splenocytes were increased both CM and/or PJ administered(p.o. for 7 days)-mice. Thymic T lymphocytes, especially TH cells were significantly increased in CM-administered mice. CM and/or PJ treatment inhibited the cell viability of L 1210 mouse leukemia and HL60 human leukemia cells and induced the apoptosis of L1210 and HL60 cells. In addition, CM and/or PJ increased the hemaggutination(HA) titer against SRBC. These results suggest that CM and/or PJ have an immuno-modulatory action and anti-carcinogenic property.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.145-148
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• 2004

This study was carried out to screen the fruiting body formation-specific genes from the medicinal mushroom Cordyceps militaris. A cDNA synthesized using total RNA from 4 stages of mushroom development, mycelium, primordium, immature fruiting body and mature fruiting body. Differential expression gene screening was performed by DD-PCR(Differential Display Arbitrary Primer PCR) with cDNA, we sequenced partial 6 genes using pGEM cloning vector. The DNA Sequence of the six DD-PCR products derived from differentially expressed genes was compared to that in the GenBank database by using the NCBI BLAST search to identify similarities to known sequences. Sequence analysis showed that six of DD-PCR products have unknown sequence.