Enhancement of radiation response with combined Ganoderma lucidum and Duchesnea chrysantha extracts in human leukemia HL-60 cells

Abstract

Abstract. We previously demonstrated that combined treatment with extracts of the medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum and the herb Duchesnea chrysantha (GDE) significantly suppresses cell growth and selectively induces apoptosis in human leukemia HL-60 cells, but not in normal cells. GDE's mechanism of action and its activity against HL-60 cells suggest that it could be suitable for the combined-modality treatment of hematological malignancies. In the present study, we examined whether treatment with a combination of GDE and ionizing radiation enhances the therapeutic effect. We demonstrated that, when used in combination with radiation at a clinically relevant dose of 2 Gy, GDE further suppressed cell proliferation and induced apoptosis as well as micronuclei formation in HL-60 cells, leading to increased cell death. Furthermore, GDE pretreatment not only reduced radiation-induced G 2 /M-phase arrest, but also induced G 1 -phase arrest. These events are associated with the inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) phosphorylation and the dephosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein (pRB). Collectively, these data show that combined treatment with GDE and radiation enhances radiation-induced apoptosis and overall cell death. These findings may be clinically relevant and suggest a novel therapeutic strategy for increasing the efficacy of radiotherapy.

A Glycoprotein Extracted from Golden Oyster Mushroom Pleurotus citrinopileatus Exhibiting Growth Inhibitory Effect against U937 Leukemia Cells

“…There are reports pertaining to cell cycle arrest by extracts of mushrooms, including Ganoderma lucidum, Lentinus edodes, and Coprinus comatus − . However, no bioactive proteins were isolated in these studies.…”

Ethanolic Extract from Derris scandens Benth Mediates Radiosensitzation via Two Distinct Modes of Cell Death in Human Colon Cancer HT-29 Cells

“…It is a challenging strategy to search for substances for combined use with radiation to trigger those programs of cell death that are still intact in cancer cells. Interestingly, the radiosensitizing potential of numerous botanicals and their derivatives is reported in several studies for cancer cells (Chendil et al, 2004;Park and Shin, 2004;Hara et al, 2008;Kim et al, 2008;Sandur et al, 2009). Notably, their radiosensitizing activities are found to process via several mechanisms including disturbing of cell cycle regulation, cell survival or cell death pathways.…”

Antitumor, Inhibition of Metastasis and Radiosensitizing Effects of Total Nutrition Formula on Lewis Tumor-Bearing Mice

“…Because irradiation alone is less efficient, the TNuF-modulated apoptosis is an ideal complement to radiotherapy. An appropriate radiosensitizer is considered as an agent that is able to balance both radiosensitization and radiotherapeutic toxicity [33,34,35,36,37]. TNuF that not only inhibits tumor proliferation but also improves irradiation-associated cachexia appears to be an ideal radiation sensitizer in its own right.…”