High molecular weight of polysaccharides from Hericium erinaceus against amyloid beta-induced neurotoxicity

Abstract

BackgroundHericium erinaceus (HE) is a well-known mushroom in traditional Chinese food and medicine. HE extracts from the fruiting body and mycelia not only exhibit immunomodulatory, antimutagenic and antitumor activity but also have neuroprotective properties. Here, we purified HE polysaccharides (HEPS), composed of two high molecular weight polysaccharides (1.7 × 105 Da and 1.1 × 105 Da), and evaluated their protective effects on amyloid beta (Aβ)-induced neurotoxicity in rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells.MethodsHEPS were prepared and purified using a 95 % ethanol extraction method. The components of HEPS were analyzed and the molecular weights of the polysaccharides were determined using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The neuroprotective effects of the polysaccharides were evaluated through a 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and an MTT assay and by quantifying reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potentials (MMP) of Aβ-induced neurotoxicity in cells.ResultOur results showed that 250 μg/ml HEPS was harmless and promoted cell viability with 1.2 μM Aβ treatment. We observed that the free radical scavenging rate exceeded 90 % when the concentration of HEPS was higher than 1 mg/mL in cells. The HEPS decreased the production of ROS from 80 to 58 % in a dose-dependent manner. Cell pretreatment with 250 μg/mL HEPS significantly reduced Aβ-induced high MMPs from 74 to 51 % and 94 to 62 % at 24 and 48 h, respectively. Finally, 250 μg/mL of HEPS prevented Aβ-induced cell shrinkage and nuclear degradation of PC12 cells.ConclusionOur results demonstrate that HEPS exhibit antioxidant and neuroprotective effects on Aβ-induced neurotoxicity in neurons.

The Neuroprotective Properties of Hericium erinaceus in Glutamate-Damaged Differentiated PC12 Cells and an Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model

“…Consistent with previous studies [13], the present research clearly confirmed the neuroprotective effects of HE in cells and an AD mouse model, as demonstrated by a decrease in cell viability caused by strongly ameliorated neurotoxin, nuclear and mitochondrial apoptotic alternations, and abnormal behavior in mice. To our knowledge, this is the first confirmation of the neuroprotective effects of HE in l -Glu-induced DPC12 apoptotic cells, and a chemical drug ( d -gal and AlCl 3 )-induced AD mouse model.…”

“…Due to patients’ various biological responses, herbs and fungi have been applied as medicine or functional food for centuries, and as such have become a repository for biopharmaceutic development [1]. According to previous research, numerous polysaccharides extracted from fungus display neuroprotective properties [13]. Our group successfully isolated a polysaccharide from Sparassis crispa that protects DPC12 cells against l -glutamic acid ( l -Glu)-induced apoptosis via the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway [14].…”

Potential Antidepressant Effects of Scutellaria baicalensis, Hericium erinaceus and Rhodiola rosea

“…S. baicalensis, H. erinaceus and R. rosea produce neuroprotective effects in models of Parkinson's disease (PD) [6,7,12,17,68,69], Alzheimer's disease (AD) [11,[70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79], Huntington disease (HD) [18], hypoxia/hypo-perfusion/stroke [51,80,81], nerve and brain injury [82,83], glutamate-induced neurotoxicity [16,75,84], and epilepsy [85][86][87]. The in vitro and in vivo neuroprotective effects of these herbal compounds, administered as either full/enriched herbal extracts and/or as single bioactive ingredients, are largely attributable to antioxidant, mitochondrial-protecting and anti-inflammatory activities ( Figure 2).…”

Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Neural Lineages as In Vitro Models for Screening the Neuroprotective Properties of Lignosus rhinocerus (Cooke) Ryvarden

“…Interestingly, in our study, the L. rhinocerus ME extract was observed to have potential neuroprotective effects in NSCs by attenuating DEX-induced apoptosis and cell nuclei apoptotic morphology. Several studies have described that extracts from other medicinal mushroom (e.g., Ganoderma lucidum and Hericium erinaceus) had antiapoptotic effects in neuronal cells [56][57][58][59]. The Active Hexose Correlated Compound (AHCC) isolated from extracts of different types of basidiomycetes was demonstrated to suppress DEX-induced apoptosis in rat thymocytes [60].…”