Ganoderma lucidum supresses lung cancer growth

Excellent new research on our favority mushroom, ganoderma lucidum, the Mushroom of Immortality, already in our Infinimin® brand!!

Polysaccharides isolated from Ganoderma lucidum showed to effectively inhibit cell viability and mobility of lung cancer cells. Functional studies revealed that water soluble glucose-rich polysaccharides from GLPs:F3 (called WSG) reduced phosphorylation of ERK1/2 in cells upon either EGF or TGFβ stimulation. WSG also inhibited phosphorylation of multiple intracellular signaling molecules such as FAK, AKT and Smad2. Mechanistically, they demonstrated that WSG induced degradation of TGFβ and EGF receptors via proteasome and lysosome, respectively. Moreover, they found that WSG significantly suppressed lung tumor growth, reduced the size of metastatic nodules in the lungs and prolonged the survival of LLC1-bearing mice (See FIGURE 6).

Their findings suggested that WSG may have potential as a therapeutic intervention for treatment of lung cancer.

Lung cancer is among the leading causes of cancer death in humans worldwide. In

general, lung cancers can be broadly divided into non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and

small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). The adenocarcinoma subtype of NSCLC represents the most common histological type of lung cancer. Most patients with advanced NSCLC will have had their disease metastasize, and the five-year survival rate is less than 15%. Now, evidence shows that adenocarcinoma with constitutively active epidermal growth factor receptor mutants (mut-EGFR), such as mut-EGFR19del and mut-EGFRL858R, is significantly inhibited by EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in clinical targeted therapies. TKI therapy can prolong survival in lung cancer patients with constitutively active EGFR mutation. However, lung cancer cells with wild-type (wt)-EGFR or Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) mutation are less sensitive toEGFR TKIs.

Therefore, the development of a new strategy to treat TKI-resistant lung cancer is a

relevant issue.

Figure 6 Summary: WSG inhibits tumor formation in lung tissue of LLC1-bearing mice

LLC1 cells were implanted into the mice via tail vein injection (n=8). (A) The tumor lesions could be observed on the surface of the lungs and were indicated as by bluish-colored arrows. (B) Lung tumor multiplicity of the lung lesions. (C) Tumor volume (mm3) of the lung lesions. (D) Upper panel of the HE stained lung sections: Å~ 8 magnification. Lower panel of the H&E stained lung sections: × 400 magnification. Scale bars represented 2 mm (upper panels) and 100 μm (lower panels). (E) WSG treatment increased the survival rate of LLC1-bearing mice. Statistically significant differences were shown (*P<0.05) compared with the control group.

Again, the aim of the present study was to obtain a water soluble glucose-rich polysaccharides from GLPs:F3 (called WSG) and identified the chemical characterization of WSG. Furthermore, they investigated the effects and mechanisms of WSG on lung tumorigenesis in vitro and in vivo. Specifically, they demonstrated that WSG inhibited multiple intracellular signaling and disrupted the crosstalk of membrane receptors via induction of protein degradation pathways. Their current findings suggest that the WSG is a potential therapeutic agent against lung cancer.

As always, more research is needed, but great forward step in the right direction!!

Cheers to your health,

Infinitum Health Team

Reference

W.-H. Hsu, W.-L. Qiu, S.-M. Tsao, et al., Effects of WSG,

a polysaccharide from Ganoderma lucidum, on suppressing cell growth and mobility of

lung cancer, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules (2018)

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