This study explored the efficacy of Fa fraction of Tricholoma giganteum against Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma (EAC). Mechanisms of apoptogenic effect of the fraction were delineated. The flow cytometric analysis of EAC cells, showed an increase in number of cells in sub-G0/G1 population and reduction in the G2/M phase due to the treatment thus suggesting apoptosis. The induction of apoptosis has also been confirmed by nuclear staining that demonstrated distinctive morphological features of apoptosis. Our data also revealed an increase in the expression of pro-apoptotic protein p53 in EAC and induced factors contributing to apoptosis. Pro-apoptotic gene Bax was up-regulated during p53-mediated apoptosis. No significant change in the expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 was observed ensuing in decrease of the Bcl-2/Bax ratio. p53-mediated growth arrest involves p21 as a major effecter, which interestingly showed moderate elevation. All these observations indicate that Fa fraction of T. giganteum induces apoptogenic signal in EAC. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

GOUTAM SAHA

Zoology

KRISHNENDU ACHARYA

Botany

S CHATTERJEE

G BISWAS

S CHANDRA

University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University or CU) is a collegiate public state university located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.&nbsp;Within India it is recognized as a &quot;Five-Star University&quot; and accredited &quot;A&quot; Grade by National Assessment and Accreditation Council.

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The University of Calcutta has secured the Fifth position among the Universities of India in the prestigious &quot;Indian University Ranking 2019&quot; list, released by the NIRF of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

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It was established on 24 January 1857, and was one of the first institutions in Asia to be established as a multidisciplinary and Western-style university. Its alumni and faculty include several heads of state, heads of government, social reformers, prominent artists, only academy award winner and Dirac medal winner in India, many Fellows of the Royal Society and five Nobel laureates as of 2019 which is highest in South Asia.

University Of Calcutta

Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering

Since antiquity, numerous macrofungi are being worshiped as food and natural medicine especially in Asian tribal communities. Recent investigation has correlated these medicinal properties with bioactive components including phenols and flavonoids. However, research on mushrooms is not satisfactory; as several traditionally prized members remain undiscovered or poorly explored yet. This backdrop tempted us to unveil secondary metabolites empowered with therapeutics from an ethnic delicacy, Russula alatoreticula that was justified as a novel macrofungus in our previous publication. Accordingly, methanol extract was prepared from dried basidiocarps that was found to be enriched with phenolic compounds (pyrogallol &gt; cinnamic acid &gt; p-coumaric acid) and ascorbic acid. As a result, the fraction exhibited strong antioxidant activity evident by the ability of quenching free radicals, chelating Fe 2+ ion and reducing components with EC 50 of 263–2382 µg/ml. Besides, effective antibacterial potential against six investigated microbes was also noticed where MIC value ranged from 99 to 2673.74 µg/ml. Furthermore, the extract revealed promising anticancer property as it induced apoptosis of Hep3B cell (IC 50 358.57 µg/ml) by imparting morphological changes, interfering cell cycle, depleting MMP and alleviating ROS through Bax, Bcl2, caspases 9 and 3 intrinsic mitochondrial pathway. Overall study implied that the immense bioactive potential of R. alatoreticula could possibly be utilized as a good source of natural supplement to combat against free radicals, pathogenic bacteria and hepatocellular carcinoma as well as in food safety industry. © 2019, Springer Nature B.V.

Fulltext

Cytotechnology

Expanding knowledge on Russula alatoreticula, a novel mushroom from tribal cuisine, with chemical and pharmaceutical relevance

Three novel water soluble neutral mononuclear oxidovanadium(iv) complexes 1-3, [VOLB2] (where H2L = dipicolinic acid (DPA) and B = imidazole (1)/1-methylimidazole (2)/1-allylimidazole (3)), were synthesized by the reaction of [VOL(H2O)2] with imidazole/1-methylimidazole/1-allylimidazole in ethanol. The complexes were thoroughly characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV-Vis and EPR spectroscopy, magnetic susceptibility, cyclic voltammetry and single crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. In all the complexes the vanadium(iv) centre assumes a distorted octahedral environment. All the three complexes have similar structures and contain a range of intramolecular interactions such as hydrogen bonding, C-H⋯π, and π⋯π stacking dominating their supramolecular architectures. A thermal study of the complexes was carried out to analyze their stability. The energy of non-covalent interactions and frontier orbitals for the complexes were also calculated by DFT. In order to investigate the binding interactions and conformational changes of the secondary structure of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with the complexes, absorption, fluorimetric titration and circular dichroism measurements in aqueous medium were carried out. Molecular docking studies have also been carried out to understand the binding modes and interaction patterns of the oxidovanadium(iv) complexes with BSA. The anticancer activities of the ligand and complexes 1-3 were tested against the human hepatic carcinoma cell line Hep3B. The complexes showed prominent cytotoxicity towards cancer cells. © 2017 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Dalton Transactions

Syntheses, crystal structures, DFT calculations, protein interaction and anticancer activities of water soluble dipicolinic acid-imidazole based oxidovanadium(iv) complexes

Liver, the most important metabolic organ of the body, is also the major organ for the detoxification of the blood stream. If the accumulation of toxins is faster than their removal by liver, hepatic damage occurs. Although synthetic drugs are available in the market, long-term use of such drugs has consequential side effects. Therefore, the growing need to find safe, cost-effective drugs devoid of adverse effects is spawning extensive research. Mushrooms are rising as a major medicinal food and pharmaceuticals. This review summarizes the medicinal value of different edible mushrooms on free radical–, xenobiotic-, and drug-induced hepatotoxicity. © 2016 Taylor & Francis.

Food Reviews International

Include mushroom in daily dietâ€”A strategy for better hepatic health

Polysaccharides from mushrooms are potentially active pharmaceutical ingredients and their action is dependent upon conformation, composition, size etc. In this context, three water soluble crude polysaccharide rich fractions viz. hot water extracted polysaccharide (HWP), cold alkaline extracted polysaccharide (CAP) and hot alkaline extracted polysaccharide (HAP) have been isolated using varying extraction parameters from Macrocybe gigantea, a well-known edible mushroom collected from Gangetic plain of West Bengal and authenticated by DNA barcoding of nrDNA ITS region. Physico-chemical investigation revealed that the fractions were mainly composed of β-configuration in pyranose form of sugars conjugated with small amount of protein. Further analysis presented that polysaccharides were composed of same monosaccharide even in similar order of ratio (D-glucose > D-galactose > D-mannose > D-xylose). However, D-glucose as well as β-glucan were found to be in the highest amount in CAP. The helical structure was determined by Congo red assay which indicated that polysaccharides were in aggregate forms except HWP which consisted of tertiary structure. These diverse structural features may have imparted effect on free radical scavenging activity of polysaccharides where HWP was the most active in all assays. HWP was proved to be a good scavenger of free radicals, strong chelator of ferrous ion and had high reducing power. Thus it can be inferred that HWP may foster further studies for searching active compound which might be used as ingredients of functional foods, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge this is the first report on chemical composition and antioxidant activity of different crude polysaccharides from M. gigantea. © 2015, Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India).

Journal of Food Science and Technology

Influence of extraction parameters on physico-chemical characters and antioxidant activity of water soluble polysaccharides from Macrocybe gigantea (Massee) Pegler &amp; Lodge

Schizophyllum commune Fr. is valued for its high nutritional composition and medicinal importance. However, quality standards of this species have not been reported till date. The aim of the present study was to provide quality control standardization of S. commune based on organoleptic, microscopic, physico-chemical, chromatographic, molecular features and to partially screen its antioxidant activity. Physico-chemical parameters such as percentage of loss on drying, total ash, swelling capacity, water holding capacity, water solubility index and methanol extractive value were documented. In addition, fluorescence analysis of the powder using 16 different chemical reagents were carried out which exhibit a remarkable variation of colour against treating agents. Quantification of the major bioactive compounds present in the extract showed the following order phenol &gt; flavonoid &gt; ascorbic acid &gt; β-carotene &gt; lycopene. The antioxidant potentials of the extract were determined using experiments of DPPH radical scavenging activity (EC50 value 1.07 mg/ml) and total antioxidant capacity (19 μg AAE/mg of extract). Phytochemical screening of the methanolic extract revealed high contents of phenolics which was confirmed by HPLC and HPTLC studies. Rf values and their corresponding peaks serve as a signature marker for identification of this mushroom. On the other hand, molecular studies including DNA extraction and sequencing of the Internal Transcribed Spacer region of the genomic DNA serve as a molecular standard. The above distinctive parameters would significantly serve towards establishing the pharmacognostic as well as molecular standards for identification, authentication and quality control of the genuine mushroom. © 2016, Institute of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University and Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Oriental Pharmacy and Experimental Medicine

Pharmacognostic standardization based on physicochemical and molecular parameters of a medicinal mushroom Schizophyllum commune

Edible mushrooms contain unique flavours and textures. They have high nutritional and medicinal values and have been consumed worldwide. Astraeus hygrometricus (Pers.) Morg. a wild ectomycorrhizal mushroom recognized as a food by the local people in South-East Asia as well as in Bihar, Jharkhand, South west India and South-Western region of West Bengal. However, it is considerably unknown to the communities in other parts of the world and it remains underutilized so far. Recent investigations from our laboratory have manifested the potential role of this mushroom in human health. Basidiocarps of A. hygrometricus are rich in proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, crude fibre and essential amino acids with lower concentration of fat. Experiments on animal models reveal the hepatoprotective, cardioprotective, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and hypoglycaemic efficacy of the mushroom. Additionally, researchers have found this taxon to contain many bioactive compounds shown to be responsible for antitumor, anti-leishmanial, anticandidal, antioxidant and immunomodulatory activity. The present review, summarized the scattered literature on A. hygrometricus with an emphasis on its nutritional and health promoting aspects. © 2017 Phcog. Net.

Journal	Data powered by TypesetBioprocess and Biosystems Engineering
Publisher	Data powered by TypesetSPRINGER
ISSN	1615-7591
Open Access	No