Galf-containing polysaccharides from medicinal molds: Sources, structures and bioactive properties

Unveiling the Structural Characteristics and Bioactivities of the Polysaccharides Extracted from Endophytic Penicillium sp.

“…It is reported that glucose and peptone are the most suitable carbon and nitrogen sources for enhancing IPS production by fungi, and the potato extract provides adequate amounts of nitrogen, mineral salts, and growth factors (B vitamins) in submerged fermentation [29,30], although no single cultivation medium can ensure high IPS productivity for all microbes. In numerous studies, the IPS from Penicillium species are produced in media enriched with potato extract, glucose, and peptone [18,24,25]. Therefore, in this study, potatoextract-, glucose-, and peptone-containing media have been used for IPS production from endophytic PR.…”

“…It is reported that the composition and molecular mass of the monosaccharides influence the cytotoxic activity of natural polysaccharides, and probably, therefore, the difference in cytotoxicity towards PC-3 cells was found for IPS-1 and IPS-2 [33]. Moreover, it has been observed that most of the polysaccharides derived from fungal sources exhibit selective toxicity towards non-cancerous and cancerous cells [17,18]. For instance, Trichoderma spp.-derived IPSs reduce the viability of breast cancer (MDA-MB) cells and mouse colon cancer (CT-26) cells but do not affect the viability of mouse fibroblast (NIH3T3) cells and human hepatocytes (LO2) [14,16].…”

“…As presented in Figure 8c, most of the control cells were not stained with PI, but IPS-2-treated cells were observed with greater nuclear damage and were evident for more dead cells compared to the IPS-1 treatment. Fungal polysaccharide-mediated apoptosis in cancer cells is associated with the intrinsic mitochondrial apoptotic cascade and disrupted mitochondrial membrane potential [18,45]. Also, the mitochondrial membrane potential loss is an initial event in cell apoptosis, and that can be examined using the mitochondrial stain Rh-123.…”

“…The sources of natural polysaccharides could be animals, plants, algae, fungi, lichens, and bacteria. However, numerous studies have reported fungal polysaccharides for their promising biocompatibility, biodegradability, cost-effectivity, enhanced solubility and stability, non-immunogenicity, and therapeutic efficacy [10,14,[17][18][19][20]. Filamentous fungi could produce two kinds of polysaccharides, such as extracellular (EPS; release into the culture medium) and intra-cellular (IPS; main constituent of the cell wall (mycelia, fruiting bodies, and spores)) [21].…”

“…Although filamentous fungi have extensive usage in the agriculture, food fermentation, textile, and pharmaceutical industries, a considerable amount of fungal mycelia are produced as by-products of industrial fermentation processes and are discarded or burned [11,18]. Thus, utilizing fungal mycelia for polysaccharide isolation could be valuable in sustainable applications.…”