Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Hunan Academy of Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410013, PR China; Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410208, PR China.
Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Hunan Academy of Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410013, PR China.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2018 Jun 12;219:195-201. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2018.02.007. Epub 2018 Feb 24.
The Yao ethnic group in Xuefeng Mountains area have used Xuefeng cordyceps, the caterpillar-fungus complex of Ophiocordyceps xuefengensis, for treating a variety of diseases for long. Just like some other cordyceps, O. xuefengensis, which is identified as the sister taxon of O. sinensis in 2013, also seems to have broad pharmacological properties, not only enhancing human immunity, anti-bacteria, anti-virus, but also anti-tumor. However, investigation of the medicinal fugal species O. xuefengensis can be found only in few literature records since its pharmacological and therapeutic use is mainly in traditional Yao communities by local healers.
The aim of this study is to collect samples of Xuefeng cordyceps and isolate the strain of O. xuefengensis, to determine bioactive components and evaluate the anti-tumor activity, to obtain the gene expression profile of O. xuefengensis and reveal its pharmacological properties by de novo transcriptome analysis. Accordingly, we attempt to provide information and give a comprehensive understanding of this mysterious medicinal fugal species from traditional Yao communities of China.
Bioactive components were determined with HPLC-DAD-Q-TOF-MS technology; in vitro anti-tumor activity against 6 cell lines was evaluated using standard MTT assay; transcriptome analysis was done by de novo sequencing; unique genes were functionally profiled basing on Gene Ontology Database and the targeted genes were examined by blast.
Trace cordycepin, an anti-tumor agent, was detected in O. xuefengensis water extract. To some extent, the raw water extract of O. xuefengensis showed in vitro anti-tumor activity, against A549, HepG2, MCF-7, PC-3 and Raji cell lines. A total of 94,858 transcripts and 49,001 unique genes were obtained, amongst, 43.4% unique genes were matched with those of O. sinensis. Not all supposed genes related to cordycepin biosynthetic pathways were found by transcriptome analysis.
According to the gene expression profile, O. xuefengensis is very close to medicinal fungus O. sinensis. Raw water extract of O. xuefengensis, to a certain degree, could inhibit the growth of tumor cells, indicating that this fungus could be a new resource for the exploration of anti-tumor drug.
雪峰山脉地区的瑶族族群长期以来一直使用雪莲花虫草，即奥氏虫草与虫草真菌复合体，来治疗各种疾病。与其他一些虫草一样，2013 年被鉴定为中华虫草姊妹种的奥氏虫草，似乎也具有广泛的药理特性，不仅能增强人体免疫力、抗菌、抗病毒，还能抗肿瘤。然而，由于其药理和治疗用途主要在当地治疗师的传统瑶社区中，因此，关于药用真菌奥氏虫草的研究仅在少数文献记录中有所发现。
本研究的目的是采集雪莲花虫草样本并分离奥氏虫草菌株，确定生物活性成分并评估其抗肿瘤活性，获得奥氏虫草的基因表达谱，并通过从头转录组分析揭示其药理特性。因此，我们试图提供有关这种来自中国传统瑶社区的神秘药用真菌的信息和全面了解。
采用 HPLC-DAD-Q-TOF-MS 技术测定生物活性成分；采用标准 MTT 法评估奥氏虫草对 6 种细胞系的体外抗肿瘤活性；通过从头测序进行转录组分析；基于基因本体数据库对特有基因进行功能分析，并通过blast 对靶向基因进行检测。
在奥氏虫草水提取物中检测到痕量抗肿瘤剂虫草素。奥氏虫草原水提取物在一定程度上对 A549、HepG2、MCF-7、PC-3 和 Raji 细胞系表现出体外抗肿瘤活性。共获得 94858 条转录本和 49001 个独特基因，其中 43.4%的独特基因与中华虫草的基因匹配。通过转录组分析并未发现所有推测与虫草素生物合成途径相关的基因。
根据基因表达谱，奥氏虫草与药用真菌中华虫草非常接近。奥氏虫草原水提取物在一定程度上能抑制肿瘤细胞的生长，表明该真菌可能是抗肿瘤药物新资源的探索方向。
