title: In vitro evaluation of Cordyceps militaris as a potential radioprotective agent.
abstract: Radiation is an important component of therapy for a wide range of malignant conditions. However, it triggers DNA damage and cell death in normal cells and results in adverse side-effects. Cordyceps militaris (C. militaris), a traditional medicinal mushroom, produces the bioactive compound, cordycepin (3'-deoxyadenosine) and has multiple pharmacological activities, such as antitumor, antimetastatic, antioxidant and immunomodulatory effects. The present study was undertaken to investigate whether CM-AE, an extract obtained from C. militaris exerts protective effects against radiation-induced DNA damage. The protective effects of CM-AE were compared with those of cordycepin. CM-AE effectively increased free radical scavenging activity and decreased radiation-induced plasmid DNA strand breaks in in vitro assays. CM-AE significantly inhibited the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cellular DNA damage in 2 Gy irradiated Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-K1 cells. Moreover, treatment with CM-AE induced similar levels of phosphorylated H2AX in the cells, which reflects the initial DNA double-strand breaks in the irradiated cells compared with the non-irradiated CHO-K1 cells. However, cordycepin did not show free radical scavenging activity and did not protect against radiation-induced plasmid DNA or cellular DNA damage. These results suggest that the free radical scavenging activity of CM-AE contributes towards its DNA radioprotective effects and that the protective effects of CM-AE are much more potent to those of cordycepin. The data presented in this study may provide useful information for the screening of potent radioprotective materials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan 619-953, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Ho
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Dong Nam Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Busan 619-953, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: You-Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Dong Nam Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Busan 619-953, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Dong-Hyeok
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Dong Nam Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Busan 619-953, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chang-Geun
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Dong Nam Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Busan 619-953, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Joong-Sun
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Dong Nam Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Busan 619-953, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Su-Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Dong Nam Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Busan 619-953, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Soo-Kyung
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Dong Nam Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Busan 619-953, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kwangmo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Dong Nam Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Busan 619-953, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Wol-Soon
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Jo
mesh_terms: D000363:Agaricales / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D016466:CHO Cells; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D020552:Comet Assay; D032661:Cordyceps / Q000737:chemistry*; D006224:Cricetinae; D003412:Cricetulus; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D003839:Deoxyadenosines / Q000494:pharmacology; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005720:Gamma Rays / Q000009:adverse effects; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D003839:Deoxyadenosines; D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; C058120:cordycepin