PL might be of use in immunochemotherapy of cancer because of its effective activities on tumor growth and metastasis through the immunopotentiation of the patients without toxicity.

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Aqueous extract from the fruiting body or mycelia of Phellinus linteus has been reported to produce antitumor and immunomodulatory activities in vivo and in vitro.

The tumoricidal activity of peritoneal macrophages (PM) cultured with acidic polysaccharide (PL) was isolated from Phellinus linteus against B16 melanoma cells was enhanced in a dose-dependent manner

These results suggest that PL act as an effective immunomodulator and enhances the anti-tumoral activity of peritoneal macrophages PM.

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Proteoglycan (P1) purified from Phellinus linteus has been reported to have anti-disease activities. The objectives of our research were to determine the anti-tumor effect and possible mechanisms of P1 on human cancer cells.

These results suggest that P1 might have two potential roles in treating cancer; it acts as an immunopotentiator partly through protecting T cells from escaping PGE2 attack and enhancing the mucosal IgA response, and as a direct inhibitor by disrupting the Reg IV/EGFR/Akt signaling pathway.

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This study investigated whether or not proteoglycan (PG) isolated from Phellinus linteus induces the phenotypic and functional maturation of CD11c⁺ DC in vitro and in vivo.

A combination of PG and tumor lysate-pulsed DC inhibited completely the growth of MCA-102 cells in tumor-bearing mice.

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Apoptosis - In this next study they were able to test the polysaccharides which are isolated from Phellinus linteus on human colon cancer cells.

These results suggest that PL has a direct antitumor effect through apoptosis and cell cycle blockade in certain cancer cells.

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Anti-Diabetes - Polysaccharide (PLP) isolated from Phellinus linteus inhibits tumor growth and metastasis by enhancing immune functions of macrophages, dendritic cells, NK cells, T cells, and B cells. Here, we report that PLP can inhibit the development of autoimmune diabetes in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice.

These results suggest that PLP inhibits the development of autoimmune diabetes by regulating cytokine expression.

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Anti-Asthmatic Effects - Phellinus linteus has been used as a traditional herbal medicine in Asian countries and is known to have anti-tumor, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, and anti-allergic activities. However, the protective effects of P. linteus against experimental asthma have not been fully investigated.

The objective of this study was to determine whether P. linteus ethanol extract (PLE) suppresses inflammatory response in an OVA-induced asthma model.

Our results suggest the potential of P. linteus as a therapeutic agent for asthma.

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We report our findings that hispolon inhibited breast and bladder cancer cell growth, regardless of p53 status.

Based on this finding, we investigated whether the sensitivity of cells to hispolon was related to ERK1/2 activity. The results indicated that cells with higher ERK1/2 activity were more sensitive to hispolon. In addition, hispolon-induced caspase-7 cleavage was inhibited by the ERK1/2 inhibitor, U0126. In conclusion, hispolon ubiquitinates and downregulates MDM2 via MDM2-recruited activated ERK1/2. Therefore, hispolon may be a potential anti-tumor agent in breast and bladder cancers.

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In the present study, we prepared the ethanol extract of Phellinus linteus as a crude drug, and then obtained the active component hispolon by bioassay-guided isolation. Hispolon showed a dose-dependent inhibition of human epidermoid KB cell proliferation with IC50 of 4.62 ± 0.16 μg/ml.

These results demonstrated that hispolon induced the death of KB cells through a mitochondria mediated apoptotic pathway. We propose that Phellinus linteus and its effective components could be used as an anti-oral cancer drug for future studies.

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In this study, we demonstrate that LNCaP cells expressing the androgen receptor (AR) are highly susceptible to apoptosis in response to treatment with high doses of Phellinus linteus (PL).

The data demonstrate that high doses of PL activate the AR-dependent and independent apoptotic pathways. This study also suggests that caspase 2 is a key target in the determination of the susceptibility of prostate cancer cells to PL-induced apoptosis.

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AKT Signaling - The antitumour activity of a medicinal mushroom Phellinus linteus (PL), through the stimulation of immune system or the induction of apoptosis, has been recently described.

However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for the inhibition of invasive behaviour of cancer cells remain to be addressed. In the present study, we demonstrate that PL inhibits proliferation (anchorage-dependent growth) as well as colony formation (anchorage-independent growth) of highly invasive human breast cancer cells.

This study suggests potential therapeutic effect of PL against invasive breast cancer.

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