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Advances in Fungal Natural Products: Insights into Bioactivity and Therapeutic Potential

Summary

Medicinal mushrooms and fungi contain powerful natural chemicals that can boost immunity, reduce inflammation, fight cancer, and protect the brain. Scientists are now better able to identify and study these compounds using advanced techniques, and some are being tested as supplements or alongside traditional medicines. This research shows that mushrooms could become important tools in treating diseases like inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer.

Background

Medicinal fungi produce diverse secondary metabolites including polysaccharides, terpenoids, phenolic compounds, alkaloids, proteins, and steroidal derivatives. These compounds exhibit immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer, and neuroprotective effects. Despite longstanding interest in fungal metabolites, critical knowledge gaps remain regarding precise mechanisms of action and optimal utilization strategies.

Objective

This Special Issue addresses gaps in understanding fungal natural products by presenting recent advances in isolation, characterization, and functional evaluation of bioactive fungal compounds. The contributions provide comprehensive insights into therapeutic potential and methodological approaches in fungal research.

Results

Featured studies demonstrated therapeutic applications including exopolysaccharides from Auricularia auricula mitigating colitis, Inonotus obliquus polysaccharides treating rheumatoid arthritis, novel sesquiterpenes from marine fungus Eutypella sp. with immunosuppressive activity, and progesterone receptor inhibitors from fungal biotransformation with selective cytotoxicity against tumor cells.

Conclusion

Fungal natural products represent a rich source of bioactive compounds with wide-ranging therapeutic applications. Bridging fundamental research and applied sciences provides a roadmap for future investigations that could transform fungal metabolites into clinically relevant interventions, addressing unmet medical needs through standardized methods, multi-omics approaches, exploration of underinvestigated species, and rigorous clinical translation.
  • Published in:Pharmaceuticals (Basel),
  • Study Type:Review,
  • Source: 10.3390/ph18091313; PMID: 41011183
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