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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Experimental Pharmacology and Drug Discovery
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1526502
This article is part of the Research Topic Anti-cancer Nanomedicines: From Design to Clinical Applications View all 6 articles

Chemical characterization and encapsulation of Ganoderma pfeifferi extract with cytotoxic properties

Provisionally accepted
Jan Šťastný Jan Šťastný 1Ángela Morellá-Aucejo Ángela Morellá-Aucejo 2Tomas Skala Tomas Skala 1Andrea Bernardos Bau Andrea Bernardos Bau 2Petr Marsik Petr Marsik 1Araceli Lérida-Viso Araceli Lérida-Viso 2Jaroslav Matějka Jaroslav Matějka 1Anna Mascellani Bergo Anna Mascellani Bergo 1María Dolores María Dolores 2Ramón Martínez-Máñez Ramón Martínez-Máñez 2Ivan Jablonský Ivan Jablonský 1Pavel Klouček Pavel Klouček 1*
  • 1 Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czechia
  • 2 Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Valencia, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Mushrooms of the genus Ganoderma are known for diverse biological activities, demonstrated both traditionally and experimentally. Their secondary metabolites have shown cytotoxic potential across different cancer cell lines. Besides exploration of the most active components in different species or genotypes, new formulation techniques are in development. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of nanomaterials because of significant potential for pharmacology applications as substance carriers. Applying nanoparticles may enhance the medicinal effect of the mushroom substances. This study investigated the cytotoxic properties of Ganoderma species methanolic extracts against the HeLa cancer cell line. Notably, the extract obtained from G. pfeifferi demonstrated the highest activity and was further used for encapsulation within synthesized mesoporous silica nanoparticles MCM-41. Subsequently, the cytotoxic effect of the loaded MCM-41 to the free form of extract was compared. The obtained results indicate successful encapsulation, and similar activity comparing encapsulated form to free extracts (IC50 16.6 μg/mL and 20.5 μg/mL, respectively). In addition, the four unique compounds were identified as applanoxidic acid A, applanoxidic acid G, ganoderone A, and ganoderone B in the G. pfeifferi. This study is an essential prerequisite for further steps like nanoparticle functionalization for sustained or on-command delivery of these natural extracts.

    Keywords: HeLa, Bioactivity, Reishi mushroom, Antiproliferative activity, applanoxidic acids

    Received: 11 Nov 2024; Accepted: 08 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Šťastný, Morellá-Aucejo, Skala, Bernardos Bau, Marsik, Lérida-Viso, Matějka, Bergo, Dolores, Martínez-Máñez, Jablonský and Klouček. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Pavel Klouček, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czechia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.