Auricularia auricula-judae has long been used as food and traditional remedies in Asian countries such as Korea and China. In this study, we evaluated the in vitro anti-tumor activity of various fractions from the ethanol extracts of Auricularia auricula-judae using various tumor cell lines. To do this, the mesh of Auricularia auricula-judae was mixed with 70% ethanol and heated at 1000C for 6 hrs and ethanol extract (ETOH) was collected. Ethanol extract was fractionated with dichloromethane (DCM), ethyl acetate, n-butanol and a water extract at room temperature as well as concentrated in a vacuum concentrator at a controlled temperature(<500C). The P388D1 macrophage and Sarcoma 180, human NSCLC NCI H358 (bronchioalveolar) and SNU1 cells (Gastric carcinoma) were cultured in RPMI. As the results, the cytotoxicity of the fractional extracts decreased significantly (P<0.05) in a dose-dependent manner. Dichloromethane extract (1 mg/ml) was the highest (P<0.05) in all experimental cell lines. There was also a significantly different sensitivity (P<0.05) among the P388D1, Sarcoma 180, NCI H358 and SNU1 cells for the fractional extracts. According to IC50 values, the most potent cytotoxic activity of dichloromethane fraction was found in Sarcoma 180 and NCI H358 cell lines. Butanol fraction appeared more cytotoxic to SNU1 cell line and water fraction had the highest cytotoxicity in P388D1 cell line. We did not find any significant difference between MTT and SRB assays in their ability to estimate cytotoxicity in all cell lines. Our findings suggest a potent antitumor activity of various fractions from the ethanol extracts of Auricularia auricula-judae depending on the solvent fractions and tumor cell lines. Further in vitro and in vivo studies will provide more information on the active compounds responsible for these activities and their potential as an anti-cancer remedy.

Phellinus gilvus(PG) is a medicinal mushroom belonging to the Hymenochaetaceae basidiomycetes, and has advantages over many Phellinus species due to its short growth period (3 mo), making it cheaper to produce. In the current investigation, we determined the major components of the ethyl acetate extract of PG responsible for its biological activities and further compared the magnitude of the antioxidant/anti-inflammatory activities of components with the various fractional extracts of PG. As the results, the average total DPPH radical scavenging activities of both Fd and Fc of PG was 10 mg/mL, > 95%. Among the fractional extracts of PG, Fd had the greatest inhibitory activity with an IC50 value of 36.70㎍/mL, whereas Fb showed the lowest activity. PCA had even greater activity of NO inhibition than Fd with an IC50 value of 19.46㎍/mL. The mRNA expression of iNOS or COX-2 was nearly undetectable in the absence of LPS. However, LPS- stimulation markedly increased the expression of both iNOS and COX-2 genes. Fd inhibited the effect of LPS in a concentration-dependent manner. Six major compounds were identified from the ethyl acetate extract of PG, and protocatechualdehyde (PCA) was supposed to be the major phenolic compound of PG responsible for its DPPH free radical scavenging activity and its inhibitory effects on LPS-induced NO production in RAW264.7 cells. Further in vitro and in vivo experiments are currently underway to confirm this observation and to investigate the detailed molecular mechanisms involved in the process as well as the biological activities of other fractions of Fd.