The apoptosis effect of hispolon from Phellinus linteus (Berkeley & Curtis) Teng on human epidermoid KB cells

Phellinus linteus (Berkeley & Curtis) Teng, a well-known fungus of the genus Phellinus in the family of Hymenochaetaceae, is being increasingly used to treat a wide variety of disease processes such as oral ulcer, gastroenteric disorder, inflammation, lymphatic disease, and various cancers. However, the mechanism underlying its anti-oral cancer effect is poorly understood. In the present study, we prepared the ethanol extract of Phellinus linteus as a crude drug, and then obtained the active component hispolon by bioassay-guided isolation. Hispolon showed a dose-dependent inhibition of human epidermoid KB cell proliferation with IC50 of 4.62 ± 0.16 μg/ml. Furthermore, it was revealed that hispolon could induce human epidermoid KB cell apoptosis with the characteristic of a DNA ladder, and with a significant increase of sub-G1. This process was accompanied by the collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential, the release of cytochrome c and the activation of Caspase-3. These results demonstrated that hispolon induced the death of KB cells through a mitochondria mediated apoptotic pathway. We propose that Phellinus linteus and its effective components could be used as an anti-oral cancer drug for future studies.