Molecular identity and cytotoxicity of Lenzites quercina macrofungus extracts toward cancer cell lines
Abstract
The medicinal uses of wild macrofungi have been attributed to their accumulated bioactive compounds. Several mushrooms have been reported to possess antitumor activity, but little, in this regard, is known about Lenzites quercina collected from Akure in Nigeria. Hence, the molecular identification and cytotoxic activity of extracts obtained from raw and fermented Lenzites quercina were assessed. The macrofungus Lenzites quercina was identified using Internal Transcribed Spacers (ITS) sequence analysis. The basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) analyzed on NCBI GenBank data revealed that the Lenzites species from Nigeria – accession number, JF689829.1 – was closely related to Lenzites quercina (a 100% relationship match). The cytotoxic activity of raw and fermented Lenzites quercina extracts was tested against human cervical cancer (HeLa), rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) and African green monkey kidney (VERO) cell lines. A tetrazolium yellow 3-(4,5-dimethyl thiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) colorimetric assay was used to evaluate the reduction in viability of cell cultures with or without the extracts of Lenzites quercina. Extracts of Lenzites quercina exhibited cytotoxic activity (6.0-84.5%) against the tested cancer cell lines (HeLa, VERO and RD). The concentration of the bioactive compounds in the crude extract ranged from 0.01 to 1000 μg/ml. The results revealed that bioactive compounds in Lenzites quercina possess cytotoxic properties. These bioactive compounds may be isolated and used as alternative therapies to currently available anticancer drugs.
Key words: Lenzites quercina, chemotherapy, cancer cells, MTT