ABSTRACT
Cordyceps militaris (L.) Link is an entomopathogenic fungus parasitic to Lepidoptera larvae, and is widely used as a folk tonic or invigorant for longevity in China. Although C. militaris has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for millennia, there is still a lack convincing evidence for its anti-aging activities. This study was performed to investigate the effects of polysaccharides from cultivated fruiting bodies of C. militaris (CMP) on mitochondrial injury, antioxidation and anti-aging activity. Fruiting bodies of C. militaris were cultivated artificially under optimized conditions. The spectrophotometric method was used to measure thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), mitochondrial swelling, and activities of scavenging superoxide anions in vitro. D-galactose (100 mg/kg/day) was injected subcutaneously into back of the neck of mice for 7 weeks to induce an aging model. The effects of CMP on the activities of catalase (CAT), surperoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and anti-hydroxyl radicals were assayed in vivo using commercial monitoring kits. The results showed that CMP could inhibit mitochondrial injury and swelling induced by Fe²(+)-L-Cysteine in a concentration- dependent manner and it also had a significant superoxide anion scavenging effect. Moreover, the activities of CAT, SOD, GPx and anti-hydroxyl radicals in mice liver were increased significantly by CMP. These results indicate that CMP protects mitochondria by scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS), inhibiting mitochondrial swelling, and increasing the activities of antioxidases. Therefore, CMP may have pharmaceutical values for mitochondrial protection and anti-aging. CMP was the major bioactive component in C. militaris.
Subject(s)
Aging/drug effects , Antioxidants/therapeutic use , Cordyceps/chemistry , Liver/drug effects , Mitochondria/drug effects , Mitochondrial Diseases/drug therapy , Polysaccharides/therapeutic use , Aging/physiology , Animals , Antioxidants/metabolism , Antioxidants/pharmacology , Cysteine , Disease Models, Animal , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Fruiting Bodies, Fungal , Galactose , Hydroxyl Radical/metabolism , Injections, Subcutaneous , Liver/metabolism , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred Strains , Mitochondria/metabolism , Mitochondria/pathology , Mitochondrial Diseases/metabolism , Mitochondrial Diseases/pathology , Phytotherapy , Polysaccharides/pharmacology , Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism , Superoxides/metabolism , Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive SubstancesABSTRACT
The Arabidopsis thaliana tonoplast Na+ /H+ antiporter gene, AtNHX1, was transferred into buckwheat by Agrobacterium-mediated method. Transgenic buckwheat plants were regenerated and selected on MS basal medium supplemented with 2.0mg/L 6-BA, 1.0mg/L KT, 0.lmg/L IAA, 50mg/L kanamycin and 500mg/L carbenicillin. 426 seedlings from 36 resistant calli originated from 864 explants (transformed about at 4.17 percentage) exhibited resistance to kanamycin. The transformants were confirmed by PCR, Southern blotting, RT-PCR and Northern blotting analysis. After stress treatment for 6 weeks with 200mmol/L NaCl, transgenic plants survived, while wild-type plants did not. After 3 days of stress treatment through different concentrations of NaCl, transgenic plants accumulated higher concentration of Na+ and proline than the control plants. However, the K+ concentration of transgenic plants declined in comparison with the control plants. Moreover, the rutin content of the roots, stems and leaves of transgenic buckwheat increased than those of the control plants. These results showed that it could be possible to improve the salt-tolerance of crops with genetic technology.