A review of research field related to well-known Russian medicinal fungal material, Chaga, is caused by the need to summarize information about the effects of its individual compounds on molecular targets of cancer cells. Chaga raw material (sterile bodies of the fungus Inonotus obliquus) is a complex fungus tissue which includes wood degradation products, and products of assimilation wood tissue components by the fungus. Chaga raw material is rich in polyphenols, triterpenoids of fungal and plant origin, and polysaccharides. In the early 1960s, Chaga raw material was included in the USSR State Pharmacopoeia and was recommended for use as a non-specific drug for the treatment of gastritis, stomach ulcers, polyposis, precancerous diseases and some forms of malignant tumors in cases where radiation therapy and surgical intervention are not destinated. However, large pharmacological potential of Chaga at the current moment seems to be still not realized. First of all, the multidirectional effect of various Chaga bioactive complexes on the molecular targets of the cancer cell is obvious: inhibiting cyclin-dependent kinases and proapoptotic (triterpenoids), immuno-mediated cytotoxic and pro-inflammatory (polysaccharides), genoprotective and antiapoptotic (polyphenols). It is obviously that complex action of these substances on cancer tissue has less pronounced effect than the targeted one. Consequently, the clinical trials of purified bioactive complexes of chaga, primarily of proapoptotic (inotodiol, betulinic acid) and anti-inflammatory (3,4-dihydroxybenzalacetone) action, are on the agenda. Based on the data reviewed, it is suggested that careful study of Chaga raw material in the future may lead to elaboration of new and more effective pharmaceuticals

The aim of this study is to test the effect of aqueous, ethereal and alcoholic extracts of the fruit bodies of the wood-destroying fungus Inonotus rickii on locomotor activity resulting from contraction of both cross-striated and smooth muscles. The pharmacological activity of I. rickii raw materials was determined in vitro using the dose-response curve method (smooth muscles) and in experiments with oral intake of extracts (CNS-mediated effects on cross-lacing muscles). The aqueous extract of fungal material showed an increase in the motor activity of smooth muscles compared to standard caffeine, which indicates the ability of fungal extract to have a stimulating effect on the synapses. It was found that I. rickii extracts have an effect on smooth muscle contraction similar to the acetylcholine. It was shown that the greatest stimulating activity demonstrates an aqueous extract that may be a result of inhibitory effect of diethyl ether and ethanol on synapses. The described effects put on the agenda both the fractionation of active extracts and further experiments on the therapeutic applications of their described properties. As a field of possible application of this kind of substances can be considered the cardiovascular remodeling, the maintenance of smooth muscle tone during a number of surgical interventions, and the palliative cure of disseminated cancers.