Cordyceps pruinosa induces apoptosis in HeLa cells

Abstract

Cordyceps is a parasitic fungus and has long been used as a Chinese medicine to treat illnesses, promote longevity, increase athletic power, and relieve exhaustion and anticancer. In this study, especially, we focused on the mechanisms of cell death exhibited by Cordyceps pruinosa butanol fraction (CPBF) against human cervical adenocarcinoma cell line, HeLa. CPBF inhibited growth and induced apoptosis in HeLa cells in a dose‐dependent manner as determined by MTT assay, DNA fragmentation and phosphatidyl serine distribution. In western blot analysis, apoptosis in Hela cells was associated with the activation of caspase‐3, ‐9 and proteolytic cleavage of PARP, decrease of Bcl‐2/Bax protein ratio, and release of cytochrome C from mitochondria into cytosol. Apoptosis induced by CPBF could not be prevented by various antioxidants. These results show that apoptosis of CPBF toward HeLa cells is mediated by mitochondria‐dependent death‐signaling pathway regardless of reactive oxygen species. Thus, it indicated that CPBF may be a potential candidate in future research and development of bioactive ingredients as anticancer agents. Supported by grant from the BioGreeen 21 program, Korea