동충하초 균사체 및 동충하초 균사체로부터 분리된 코디세핀의 항암 활성 평가

Various medicinal fungi have been traditionally used in many countries for health maintenance, as well as for the prevention and treatment of various diseases. Dong-Chong-Xia-Cha in Chinese, which translates as “winter worm and summer grass”, is an entomogenous fungus that colonized the larvae or pupae of insect. Although various biological activities of crude extracts have been reported, the precise active compounds responsible for the anticancer activities of cultured Cordyceps are not well defined. Therefore, as part of our study program to identify potential anticancer agents from traditional medicines, we used cordycepin isolated from Cordyceps militaris obtained by submerged cultivation. The aim was to isolate the pure cordycepin from the extracts of Cordyceps militaris and evaluate its anticancer properties. Silica gel column chromatographic purification of Cordyceps militaris extracts resulted in the isolation of cordycepin. The isolated cordycepin and crude cordyceps were examined for their anti-proliferative effects on human cancer cell lines, HCT, MC5-7, U-87MG, AGS, A549, and MCF-7 cells were analyzed. The isolated cordycepin displayed potent growth inhibition on HCT, MC5-7, U-87MG, AGS, A549, and MCF-7 cells with IC50 values of 86.16, 28.13, 282.40, 78.41, 137.40, and 216.40 μg/ml, respectively. A similar inhibitory trend in these cancer cells was observed for crude cordyceps, with IC50 values ranging from 60.8 317.2. The present study provides scientific supporting information for the ethnopharmacological use of Cordyceps militaris as an anticancer agent.