Lichen antitumor activity

Antitumor Activity of Lichen Glucans Against Subcutaneously Implanted Sarcoma 180 in Mice"... 

Nishikawa Y, Takeda T, Shibata S, Fukuoka F (1969) Polysaccharides in lichens and fungi. III. Further investigation on the structures and the antitumor activity of the polysaccharides from Gyrophora esculenta Miyoshi and Lasallia pustulata Llano. Chem Pharm Bull 17 1910-1916... 

Nishikawa Y, Tanaka M, Shibata S, Fukuoka F (1970) Polysaccharides of lichens and fungi. IV. Antitumor active 0-acetylated pustulan-type glucans from the lichens of Umbilicaria species. Chem Pharm Bull 18 1431-1434... 

Fujikawa F, Hirai K, Hirayama T et al (1972) Influence of cytochalasin B on hyphal morphogenesis of Aspergillus nidulans. Yakugaku Zasshi 92 823-827 Fukuoka F, Nakanishi M, Shibata S et al (1968) Polysaccharides in lichens and fungi. II. Antitumor activities on sarcoma-180 of the polysaccharide preparations from Gyrophora esculenta Miyoshi, Cetraria islandica (L.) Ach. var. orientalis Asahina, and some other lichens. Gann 59 421-432... 

Nishikawa Y, Ohno H (1981) Studies on the water-soluble constituents of lichens. IV. Effect of antitumor lichen-glucans and related derivatives on the phagocytic activity of the reticuloendothelial system in mice. Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo) 29 3407-3410 Nishikawa Y, Takeda T, Shibata S et al (1969) Polysaccharides in lichens and fungi. 3. Further investigation on the structures and the antitumor activity of the polysaccharides from Gyrophora esculenta Miyoshi and Lasallia papulosa Llano. Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo) 17 1910-1916... 

Takahashi, K., T. Takeda, S. Shibata, M. Inomata, and F. Fukuoka Polysaccharides of Lichens and Fungi. VI. Antitumor Active Polysaccharides of Lichens of Stictaceae. Chem. Pharm. Bull. (Japan) 22, 404 (1974). 

Neither Usno nor other lichen medicines have, however, gained a permanent position in the medical praxis the fight for a place in the sun among antibiotics is too hard. Since the last decade the medicinal research of lichens has turned to new directions the untiring Japanese group Nakazava, Komatsu, Hamada, Fujikawa, Hirai, Shibata et al. has studied the antitumor activity of lichens intensively since 1962. This activity obviously depends on the polysaccharide component in lichens, as found in Umbilicaria, Lasallia, Cetraria, Cladonia, Parmelia, and Usnea, and from psoromic acid. 

Watanabe M, Iwai K, Shibata S, Takahashi K, Narui T, Tashiro T (1986) Purification and Characterization of Mouse -Acid Glycoprotein and its Possible Role in the Antitumor Activity of some Lichen Polysaccharides. Chem Pharm Bull... 

Mushrooms and various fungi and lichens are rich in enol metabolites and many exhibit significant bioactivities , such as usnic acid (14) which serves as a regulator for plant growth and shows antitumor and antibiotic activities " . The widely distributed quinone polyporic acid (15a, PPA) from the Purple-Dye Polypore mushroom (Hapalopilus nidu-lans) and other sources is a weak inhibitor (IC50 = 0.1 to >1.5 mM " ) of dihydroorotate... 

Nishikawa, Y., K. Ohki, K. Takahashi, G. Kurono, F. Fukuoka, and M. Emori Studies on the Water Soluble Constituents of Lichens. II. Antitumor Polysaccharides of Lasallia, Usnea, and Cladonia Species. Chem. Pharm. Bull. (Japan) 22, 2692 (1974). Nishikawa, Y., T. Tabceda, S. Shibata, and F. Fukuoka Polysaccharides in Lichens and Fungi. III. Further Investigation on Structures and the Antitumour Activity of the Polysaccharides from Gyrophora esculenta Miyoshi and Lasallia papulosa (Ach.) Llano. Chem. Pharm. Bull. (Japan) 17, 1910 (1969). 

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