Properties and biological functions of polysaccharides and ethanolic extracts isolated from medicinal fungus, Fomitopsis pinicola

Fomitopsis pinicola is used as a medicinal fungus in Asia. Polysaccharides extracted from 35-day-cultured fungus and its ethanolic extract showed no toxicity to endothelial cells (ECs). Extracted polysaccharides had a strong inhibitory effect on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced tube formation in ECs in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the ethanolic extract dose-dependently suppressed production of the interferon (IFN)-γ-induced inflammation marker, IP-10. High-molecular-weight of 5367 and 1056 kDa accounted for 19.6% and 19.3% of the total polysaccharides, and a low-molecular-weight one of 14.7 kDa accounted for 53.6% of the total polysaccharides. Chemical analyses of the polysaccharides revealed that myo-inositol, fucose, galactose, glucose, mannose, and fructose were neutral sugars in the polysaccharide. Six nucleoside-type compounds including cytidine, adenosine monophosphate (AMP), adenosine diphosphate (ADP), adenosine, inosine, and thymidine were identified in the ethanolic extract. These results suggest that different extracts from F. pinicola play different roles in regulating the angiogenic process and inflammation.