Nutritive profile, pharmaceutical potentials, and structural analysis of multifunctional bioactive fungal polysaccharides-A review.

Asian nations have long used edible fungi as food and medicine. Polysaccharides are among the main building units of the cell walls of fungi. Fungal polysaccharides have been documented in the medicinal and industrial sectors as products with a vast array of various biological activities and applications such as antitumor, antioxidant, anticancer, immunomodulation, and antiviral activities, etc. The goal of this review is to give insights into the various biological activities of mushroom polysaccharides and their potential as a medicine for human health. The extraction, purity, and structural analysis of fungal polysaccharides were also reviewed in this work. Also, future prospective, and challenges for fungal polysaccharides in pharmaceutical applications can be found in this review. Overall, this review serves as a valuable resource in exploring the therapeutic potential and applications of fungal polysaccharides. By building upon the existing knowledge base and addressing critical research gaps, researchers can find new opportunities for utilizing fungal polysaccharides as valuable therapeutic agents and functional ingredients in pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and biotechnology.

HPLC and GC-MS-based metabolic profiles and in vivo anticonvulsant, sedative, and antinociceptive potentials of truffles Tirmania nivea and Tirmania pinoyi hydromethanolic extracts in mice.

GC-MS and HPLC analyses of the hydromethanolic extracts of the truffles Tirmania nivea (TN) and Tirmania pinoyi (TP) revealed the presence of 18 metabolites and 11 polyphenols, respectively. In vivo, TP extract protected against subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole (scPTZ) and maximal electric shock (MES)-induced convulsions faster than TN extract. TP extract (100 and 300 mg/kg) showed 100% protection and longer duration than TN extract in the scPTZ test. Similarly, at 300 mg/kg, TP demonstrated a quicker start (75%) and longer duration of action (100%) than TN in MES test. In the scPTZ test, ED50 of TP demonstrated greater anticonvulsant efficacy than that of TN. In mice given TP and TN treatments, the brain GABA levels noticeably increased. TP (100 and 300 mg/kg) produced a notable sedative effect in open-field test, whereas TN (100 or 300 mg/kg) and TP (300 mg/kg) reduced sleep latency by 52%, 45%, and 79%, respectively. In writhing test, TN (100 or 300 mg/kg) significantly enhanced analgesic efficacy by 50 and 87%, respectively. Comparatively, in formalin test, TP and TN at a dosage of 300 mg/kg decreased the length of the licking by 34 and 59%, respectively. For the first time, this study explains the anticonvulsant, sedative, central, and peripheral analgesic activities of truffle extracts.

Purification, amino acid sequence, and characterization of bacteriocin GA15, a novel class IIa bacteriocin secreted by Lactiplantibacillus plantarum GCNRC_GA15.

The bacteriocins produced by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are attracting attention due to their promising applications in food and pharmaceuticals fields. Hence, a LAB strain, GCNRC_GA15, was isolated from Egyptian goat cheese, and molecularly identified as Lactiplantibacillus plantarum. This strain showed a wide antimicrobial spectrum, which was found to be of proteineous nature, suggesting that L. plantarum GCNRC_GA15 is a bacteriocin-producer. This bacteriocin (bacteriocin GA15) was partially purified using cation exchange, and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. Tricine SDS-PAGE analysis for the fraction showing bacteriocin activity has estimated the molecular mass to be 4369 Da. Furthermore, amino acid sequencing of this peptide has detected 34 amino acids, and comparing its amino acid sequence with those of some pediocin-like bacteriocins revealed that bacteriocin GA15 has the conserved sequence (YYGNGV/L) in its N-terminal region which identified bacteriocin GA15 as a pediocin-like bacteriocin. Bacteriocin GA15 showed good heat and pH stabilities, and its activity was enhanced after treatment with Tween 80 or Triton X-100. Bacteriocin production medium was statistically optimized using the Plackett-Burman and Central Composite designs. As a result, bacteriocin production increased from 800 to 12,800 AU/ml using the optimized medium in comparison with result recorded for the un-optimized medium.

Rapamycin golden jubilee and still the miraculous drug: a potent immunosuppressant, antitumor, rejuvenative agent, and potential contributor in COVID-19 treatment.

Although celebrating its golden jubilee, rapamycin's importance keeps increasing by the day. Starting as a promising antifungal agent, then as a potent immunosuppressant, strong anticancer drug, and now rapamycin is attracting serious attention as a rejuvenative agent and a possible contributor in treating this era pandemic, COVID-19. Due to its diverse biological activities and promising medical applications, we aimed in this review to put rapamycin under the spot and highlight its discovery, famous microbial producers, reported biological activities, chemical structure, famous analogues, and biosynthesis. Moreover, discuss some rapamycin production approaches including solid-state fermentation, and stressing out producing strain. On the other hand, describe its action mechanism and trials to use it in treatment of COVID-19. Additionally, we highlighted some of the side effects accompanying its use, and describe some approaches reported to minimize these undesired effects. Finally, we report the current status of rapamycin and its analogues in global market, and discuss future prospects of this potent drug.

Contributions of exopolysaccharides from lactic acid bacteria as biotechnological tools in food, pharmaceutical, and medical applications.

Exopolysaccharides (EPS) are important bioproducts produced by some genera of lactic acid bacteria. EPS are famous for their shelf-life improving properties, techno-functional enhancing abilities in food and dairy industries, besides their beneficial health effects. Furthermore, exopolysaccharides have many prospective and well-established contributions in the field of drugs and diagnostic industry. In this review, classification of EPS produced by LAB was presented. Moreover, current and potential applications of EPS in food, dairy, baking industries, cereal-based, and functional products were described. Also, some clinical and pharmaceutical applications of EPS such as intelligent drug delivery systems (microsystems and nanosystems for sustained delivery), interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs), anticancer drug-targeting, recombinant macromolecular biopharmaceuticals, gene delivery, tissue engineering, and role of EPS in diagnostics were highlighted. Finally, future prospects concerning enhancing EPS production, minimizing costs of their production, and exploring their contribution in further applications were discussed.

The ancient koji mold (Aspergillus oryzae) as a modern biotechnological tool.

Aspergillus oryzae (A. oryzae) is a filamentous micro-fungus that is used from centuries in fermentation of different foods in many countries all over the world. This valuable fungus is also a rich source of many bioactive secondary metabolites. Moreover, A. oryzae has a prestigious secretory system that allows it to secrete high concentrations of proteins into its culturing medium, which support its use as biotechnological tool in veterinary, food, pharmaceutical, and industrial fields. This review aims to highlight the significance of this valuable fungus in food industry, showing its generosity in production of nutritional and bioactive metabolites that enrich food fermented by it. Also, using A. oryzae as a biotechnological tool in the field of enzymes production was described. Furthermore, domestication, functional genomics, and contributions of A. oryzae in functional production of human pharmaceutical proteins were presented. Finally, future prospects in order to get more benefits from A. oryzae were discussed.