The mushroom Coriolusversicolor contains biologically active polysaccharides, most of which belong to the β glucan group. Diverse physicochemical properties, due to different sources and isolated types of β-glucans, may induce distinct biological activities. Here, we examined the effects of β-glucan from Coriolusversicolor (CVG) on the scavenger receptor B1 (SR-B1) expression and the role of SR-B1 in CVG-induced phagocytosis regulation by using SR-B1-specific shRNA transfected cells. We also examined whether Dectin-1 and CK2 are involved in SR-B1 expression in CVG-treated cells. Our study results showed that CVG increased the SR-B1 expression via Dectin-1 and CK2 in macrophages. However, the inhibition of SR-B1 expression by shRNA did not completely eliminate the effect of CVG on the increase of phagocytosis suggesting that SR-B1 is not essential for CVG-stimulated phagocytosis. This study will contribute to identify CVG's mechanism of action and its use in the development of functional foods.

• Taeseong Kim
• Ye-Jin Kim
• Eun-Hwa Sohn