Abstract

Agaricus blazei Murill(AbM) is an edible Bacidiomycota phyllum mushroom used in traditional medicine as a remedy against a wide range of diseases, including infection and cancer. It is rich in β-glucans and antitumor protein-glucan complexes, which have been shown to have stimulating effects on cells involved in innate immunity, such as monocytes, NK cells and dendritic cells. The present report shows that stimulation of monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MDDC) with an AbM-based extract, AndoSan™, induces modulation of expression of cell surface markers. Incubation of MDDC with 10% of AndoSan™ resulted in upregulation of CD1a, CD14, CD40, CD80, CD83 and CD86, de novo expression of CD69 and downregulation of CD11c expression. The modulation was time dependent. Our investigation shows the ability of AndoSan™ to immunomodulate and activate MDDC in vitro, and agrees with the recent findings of increased production of cytokines and chemokines in AndoSan™-stimulated MDDC cultures. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that AbM can stimulate human promonocytic THP-1 cells via TLR2 and thus induce activation and migration of transcription factor NF-κB from cytosol to the nucleus. It is therefore probable that binding to TLR2 is a significant mechanism behind AndoSan™ activation of MDDC.

Keywords: Agaricus blazei Murill, monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MDDC), cell surface markers, CD1, CD11, CD14, CD40, CD69, CD80, CD86