Cordyceps sinensis, a well-known traditional Chinese medicine, which is used to replenish the kidney and soothe the lung and indeed many clinical applications, have been reported. Natural Cordyceps is rare and expensive on the local market; therefore, several mycelial strains have been isolated from natural Cordyceps and manufactured in large quantities by fermentation technology. A strain of Cordyceps, namely UST 2000, has been isolated from Qinghai Cordyceps by our laboratory, which is chemically and genetically identical to the natural one. However, the identity of active component(s) within Cordyceps UST 2000 has not been determined. By using ion-exchange and sizing chromatographies, polysaccharide fractions were separated from cultured Cordyceps UST 2000-conditioned medium. The fra...[ Read more ]

Cordyceps sinensis, a well-known traditional Chinese medicine, which is used to replenish the kidney and soothe the lung and indeed many clinical applications, have been reported. Natural Cordyceps is rare and expensive on the local market; therefore, several mycelial strains have been isolated from natural Cordyceps and manufactured in large quantities by fermentation technology. A strain of Cordyceps, namely UST 2000, has been isolated from Qinghai Cordyceps by our laboratory, which is chemically and genetically identical to the natural one. However, the identity of active component(s) within Cordyceps UST 2000 has not been determined. By using ion-exchange and sizing chromatographies, polysaccharide fractions were separated from cultured Cordyceps UST 2000-conditioned medium. The fractions were followed by using bioactivity-guided fractionation. After several steps of purification, an active component was isolated; this single compound was calibrated to be a polysaccharide complex with molecular weight of ~83 kDa. The purified polysaccharide processed strong immuno-stimulating effects in cultured T-lymphocytes and cultured macrophages, and which subsequently was named as cordysinocan referring to its sources and chemical nature.

In cultured T-lymphocytes, the application of cordysinocan induced a strong effect on the cell proliferation and caused a release of IL-2. The treatment of T-lymphocytes with cordysinocan at 50 μg/ml elevated the proliferation of T-lymphocytes by over 90%. At the same time, cordysinocan induced ~180 pg/ml of IL-2 release. In cultured macrophages, the treatment of cordysinocan induced the activities of phagocytosis and acid phosphatase. The treatment of 100 μg/ml of cordysinocan in cultured macrophages increased ~70% of phagocytosis and ~1.7-fold of acid phosphatase activity. Apart from analyzing the immuno-modulating effects of cordysinocan, the signaling mechanism of Cordyceps-mediated T-lymphocytes stimulation was also determined. The application of 100 μg/ml of cordysinocan in cultured T-lymphocytes induced the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in a time-dependent manner.

In summery, the current results show a purification of an active polysaccharide, namely cordysinocan, from cultured Cordyceps. Cordysinocan could induce the immune response, and this response could be mediated by ERK signaling mechanism.