Cordyceps, an Endangered Medicinal Plant: A Short Review

Abstract

Cordyceps is a genus of a fungi (sac fungi) that includes about 400 species. All Cordyceps species are endoparasitoids, parasitic mainly on insects and other arthropods (they are thus entomopathogenic In 2007, nuclear DNA sampling revealed this species to be unrelated to most of the rest of the members of the genus; as a result it was renamed Ophiocordyceps sinensis and placed in a new family, the Ophiocordycipitaceae.The generic name Cordyceps is derived from the Greek word kordyle, meaning "club", and the Latin stem -ceps, meaning "head". Several species of Cordyceps are considered to be medicinal mushrooms in classical Asian pharmacologies, such as that of traditional Chinese (Halpern, 2007; and Tibetan medicines.When a Cordyceps fungus attacks a host, the mycelium invades and eventually replaces the host tissue, while the elongated fruit body (ascocarp) may be cylindrical, branched, or of complex shape. The ascocarp bears many small, flask-shaped perithecia containing asci.These, in turn, contain thread-like ascospores, which usually break into fragments and are presumably infective. Some current and former Cordyceps species are able to affect the behavior of their insect host: Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (formerly Cordyceps unilateralis) causes ants to climb a plant and attach there before they die. This ensures the parasite's environment is at an optimal temperature and humidity, and that maximal distribution of the spores from the fruit body that sprouts out of the dead insect is achieved (Hughes et al.,

Synthesis and Characterization of NUC-7738, an Aryloxy Phosphoramidate of 3′-Deoxyadenosine, as a Potential Anticancer Agent

“…After careful consideration, we decided to follow the synthetic route developed by Meier et al (Scheme 1). 48 Briefly, adenosine (2) was first converted into 9-(2,3-anhydro-β-D-ribofuranosyl)adenine (3) with a 98% yield. Then, metal hydride-mediated reductive opening of the epoxide ring in 3 afforded cordycepin (1) as the only regioisomer with a 95% yield.…”

“…3′-Deoxyadenosine (3′-dA, cordycepin, 1 ) (Figure ) is the main bioactive component isolated from the fermented broth of Cordyceps militaris, which is a medicinal parasitic fungus. This fungus has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for over 300 years as a treatment for inflammatory diseases and cancer. − 3′-dA is a nucleoside analogue similar in structure to adenosine but lacking the 3′-hydroxyl group on the ribose moiety, and it has been proposed as an anticancer drug due to its numerous biological and pharmacological actions including inhibition of cell proliferation, induction of apoptosis, antimetastatic effect, and immune system activation . The mechanism of its antitumor activity is not well understood, but 3′-dA has been shown to regulate several signaling pathways associated with tumor growth and metastasis. , 3′-dA is thought to enter cells via the human equilibrative nucleoside transporters (hENT1), and to be phosphorylated by adenosine kinase (AK) to 3′-deoxyadenosine monophosphate (3′-dAMP).…”