El-Sayed El-Sayed R, Kloc Magdalena, Kulbacka Julita, Choromańska Anna, Bielecka Monika, Strzała Tomasz, Łyczko Jacek, Boratyński Filip
Department of Food Chemistry and Biocatalysis, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Norwida 25, 50-375, Wrocław, Poland.
Plant Research Department, Nuclear Research Center, Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo, Egypt.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 21;15(1):26423. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-10372-9.
Cancer continues to be a major cause of mortality worldwide, emphasizing the critical need for innovative and more effective anticancer drugs with enhanced efficacy and minimal side effects. In response, researchers have begun investigating the largely unexplored metabolites produced by fungal endophytes for the development of novel therapeutics. In this regard, the present work aims to assess the anticancer potential of the fungal endophytes of forest plants (local forest in Wrocław, Poland), which remains yet unexamined. Fungal endophytes were isolated from their host plants, purified, grown and their extracts were separately prepared from cell-free culture media and biomass. The prepared extracts were tested for their cytotoxic potentials against human melanoma, breast adenocarcinoma, lung carcinoma, and normal cell lines using the MTT-based assay. Cultures of these isolates were exposed to several doses of Co gamma rays to study their effects on the cytotoxic potential of their cell-based and extracellular extracts against the beforementioned cell lines. Preparative thin-layer chromatography fractionation followed by GC-MS were applied to identify compounds in the active fractions. Five fungi, namely Penicillium yarmokense JAR-L1 (leaves of Sorbus aucuparia), Penicillium sp. sp. BRZ-B (bark of Betula pendula), Fusarium avenaceum KLON-B (bark of Acer platanoides), Penicillium charlesii SOS-B1 (bark of Pinus sylvestris), and Umbelopsis isabellina COR-L2 (leaves of Corylus avellana) showed high toxicity with increased specificity for cancer cells rather than healthy cells. Exposure to gamma rays at specific doses enhanced the cytotoxic potentials of extracts of these fungi. Bioactive compounds in the active bands after prep-TLC were identified. Some of the identified compounds from active fractions such as squalene, fenchone, α-phellandrene, p-Cymene, α-thujone, and 18-norabietane are being reported for the first time from fungal cultures. The findings of this study indicate that endophytic fungi may represent a promising and untapped reservoir of bioactive compounds with cytotoxic effects which opens new avenues for scientific exploration and could contribute to the advancement of novel anticancer therapeutics.
癌症仍然是全球主要的死亡原因，这凸显了对创新且更有效的抗癌药物的迫切需求，这类药物需具备更高的疗效和最小的副作用。作为回应，研究人员已开始研究真菌内生菌产生的基本上未被探索的代谢产物，以开发新型治疗方法。在这方面，目前的工作旨在评估森林植物（波兰弗罗茨瓦夫当地森林）的真菌内生菌的抗癌潜力，而这一潜力尚未得到研究。从其宿主植物中分离出真菌内生菌，进行纯化、培养，并分别从无细胞培养基和生物量中制备提取物。使用基于MTT的检测方法，测试所制备的提取物对人黑色素瘤、乳腺腺癌、肺癌和正常细胞系的细胞毒性潜力。将这些分离株的培养物暴露于几剂钴伽马射线，以研究其对基于细胞的提取物和细胞外提取物针对上述细胞系的细胞毒性潜力的影响。采用制备型薄层色谱分离，随后进行气相色谱 - 质谱联用，以鉴定活性馏分中的化合物。五种真菌，即雅莫肯青霉JAR - L1（花楸树叶）、青霉属sp. sp. BRZ - B（垂枝桦树皮）、燕麦镰刀菌KLON - B（挪威槭树皮）、查尔斯青霉SOS - B1（欧洲赤松树皮）和伊莎贝林伞霉COR - L2（榛树叶）表现出高毒性，对癌细胞的特异性高于健康细胞。以特定剂量暴露于伽马射线可增强这些真菌提取物的细胞毒性潜力。鉴定了制备型薄层色谱后活性条带中的生物活性化合物。从活性馏分中鉴定出的一些化合物，如角鲨烯、小茴香酮、α - 水芹烯、对伞花烃、α - 侧柏酮和18 - 去甲枞烷，首次从真菌培养物中被报道。本研究的结果表明，内生真菌可能代表了一个有前景且未被开发的具有细胞毒性作用的生物活性化合物库，这为科学探索开辟了新途径，并可能有助于新型抗癌治疗方法的进步。
