Assessment of In Vitro Bioactivities of Polysaccharides Isolated from Hericium Novae-Zealandiae

The objective of this study was to investigate the potential effect of the polysaccharidesisolated from Hericiumnovae-zealandiae, a native New Zealand fungus, on the in vitro proliferation of prostate cancer cell lines, gene expression, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, and oxidation. One water-soluble and two alkali-soluble polysaccharidefractions were isolated from H. novae-zealandiae. The proliferation of the prostate cancer cell lines DU145, LNCaP, and PC3 was evaluated following treatment with these polysaccharidefractions. It was found that the polysaccharidespossess anti-proliferative activity on LNCaPand PC3 cells, with a 50% growth inhibition (IC50) value as low as 0.61 mg/mL in LNCaP. Subsequently, it was determined through via RT-qPCR assay that apoptosis was one of the possible mechanisms responsible for the anti-proliferative activity in LNCaP. This was supported by the up-regulation of CASP3, CASP8, and CASP9. An alternative, discovered in PC3, was revealed to be anti-inflammation, which was hinted at by the down-regulation of IL6 and up-regulation of IL24. The polysaccharidesalso exhibited antioxidant and weak AChE inhibitory activities. This is the first report on the potential health benefits of polysaccharidesprepared from the New Zealand fungus, H. novae-zealandiae.