Extracts of Medicinal Mushrooms Agaricus bisporus and Phellinus linteus Induce Proapoptotic Effects in the Human Leukemia Cell Line K562

Abstract

We have studied the effects of Agaricus bisporus and Phellinus linteus ethanol extracts on transcriptional regulation of genes involved in cytokine release and apoptosis in the human leukemia cell line K562. In particular, we applied quantitative real-time PCR (Q-PCR) assays to monitor alterations of gene expression for the following genes: Bcl-2, Casp-9, NF-κB, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and IL-10. We found stronger proapoptotic activity for the Ph. linteus alcohol extract on K562 cells than for the A. bisporus extract: 4.4- and 2.2-fold increase of Bcl-2 and Casp-9 transcripts. Mushroom alcohol extracts are suggested to exert their effects on tumor cells via the induction of apoptosis. K562 leukemia cells were shown to be most responsive to the transcriptional induction of tumor necrosis factor TNF-α when stimulated with IFN-γ and then treated with Ph. linteus alcohol extract: up to a 4.5-fold increase. Treatment of K562 cells with A. bisporus extract promoted transcription of the cytokine gene IL-10.