Cordyceps sinensis Acts As an Adenosine A₃ Receptor Agonist on Mouse Melanoma and Lung Carcinoma Cells, and Human Fibrosarcoma and Colon Carcinoma Cells

Noriko Yoshikawa, Arisa Nishiuchi, Erika Kubo, Yu Yamaguchi, Masaru Kunitomo, Satomi Kagota, Kazumasa Shinozuka, Kazuki Nakamura

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DOI: 10.4236/pp.2011.24034                

Abstract

Cordyceps sinensis, a parasitic fungus on the larva of Lapidoptera, has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine. We previously reported that the growth of B16-BL6 mouse melanoma (B16-BL6) cells and mouse Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells was inhibited by cordycepin (3’-deoxyadenosine), an ingredient of Cordyceps sinensis, and its effect was antagonized by MRS1191, a selective adenosine A₃ receptor (A₃-R) antagonist although adenosine (up to 100 μM) had no effect on the growth of B16-BL6 and LLC cells. In this study, we investigated whether water extracts of Cordyceps sinensis (WECS) inhibit the growth of B16-BL6 cells, LLC cells, HT1080 human fibrosarcoma (HT1080) cells and CW-2 human colon carcinoma (CW-2) cells via their A₃-R. As a result, the growth of all cell lines were potently inhibited by WECS (10 μg/mL) and the inhibitory effect of WECS was significantly antagonized by MRS1191 (1 μM). Furthermore, WECS included 2.34% w/w cordycepin and 0.12% w/w adenosine as components according to the HPLC- ECD system. In conclusion, WECS inhibited the proliferation of four cancer cell lines by stimulation of A₃-R and the main component in WECS with anticancer action might be cordycepin instead of adenosine.

Keywords

Cordyceps Sinensis, Adenosine A₃ Receptor, Cordycepin, HPLC-ECD

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

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