Effect of aqueous extract from cordyceps militaris on the immune cell activation to kill breast cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines
Keywords:
Aqueous extract, Cordyceps militaris , Effector immune cells, Cancer cellsAbstract
Cordyceps militaris is a medicinal herb for health benefits and the treatment of various diseases because it has many biological effects. However, the result of the aqueous extract from C. militaris at a temperature of 45°C for 3 hours on the activation of immune cells isolated from humans to destroy cancer cells has not yet been studied. In this study, the amount of cordycepin in the extract was quantified using Ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC). The cordycepin content in the sample was 3.85 mg/g dry weight after extraction. The toxicities of the extracts against breast cancer cell line (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231), hepatocellular carcinoma (Huh-7 and SNU-449), and effector immune cells (PBMCs and non-adherent cells) were evaluated using PrestoBlue™ cell viability reagent. The results showed that the extract did not have toxicities against cancer cells and PBMCs (IC50> 1,000 µg/mL) after incubation for 24 and 48 hours, while the extract affected the cell viability of non-adherent cells (IC50 = 354.2 ± 4.41 µg/mL). The effects of the extract at 25, 50, and 100 µg/mL on the activation of non-adherent cells to kill cancer cells were examined by staining the remaining cancer cells with crystal violet dye. At the effector to target ratio of 20:1, it was found that the extracts at 100 µg/mL significantly increased the efficacy of non-adherent cells in killing MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, Huh-7, and SNU-449 compared to the group treated with extract at 100 µg/mL and without immune cells. The percentage of cell viability of MCF-7 cells was 61.89 ± 10.86 (p<0.0001), while for MDA-MB-231 cells, it was 70.26 ± 8.29 (p<0.0001). Huh-7 cells showed a percentage of cell viability of 62.82 ± 7.97 (p<0.0001), and SNU-449 cells had a percentage of cell viability of 66.06 ± 1.68 (p<0.0001). It was concluded that the aqueous extract from C. militaris could activate an effector immune cell to kill cancer cells. Therefore, C. militaris might be developed as a natural product to modulate the immune system in healthy people or applied in cancer patients to activate the immune system to fight cancer cells.
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