Research Topic: terpenoids

Fungal Bioactive Compounds as Emerging Therapeutic Options for Age-Related Neurodegenerative Disorders

Mushrooms contain special compounds that may help protect our brains as we age. These fungal compounds fight inflammation, reduce harmful free radicals, and help clear out damaged cellular parts—all things that slow down brain aging and diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. While the research looks very promising in lab and animal studies, scientists still need to figure out how to make these compounds work better in the human body and prove they’re safe and effective in patients.

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Targeting the AMP-activated protein kinase pathway: the active metabolites of botanical drugs represent potential strategies for treating metabolic-associated fatty liver disease

Fatty liver disease is becoming increasingly common and current medications have side effects like dangerously low blood sugar. This review shows that natural plant-based compounds and traditional Chinese herbs can activate a key protein (AMPK) in the body that helps burn fat and regulate sugar levels. Over 30 different plant compounds from foods and herbs like ginger, curcumin, and ganoderma mushrooms have been shown to improve fatty liver disease by activating this protein through multiple beneficial mechanisms.

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Therapeutic Effects of Natural Products on Liver Cancer and Their Potential Mechanisms

This review examines how natural products from plants, fungi, and marine organisms can help treat liver cancer more safely and effectively than current drugs. These natural compounds work through multiple pathways such as triggering cancer cell death, stopping cell growth, and boosting the immune system. The research found that seven categories of natural products show promise, with sources ranging from ginseng and turmeric to mushrooms and seaweed, offering potential new treatment options that could reduce side effects and drug resistance.

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Recent developments of tools for genome and metabolome studies in basidiomycete fungi and their application to natural product research

Mushrooms and related fungi in the basidiomycete group produce many useful medicines and agricultural chemicals. Scientists have traditionally struggled to study these fungi because they grow slowly and have complex genomes. Recent technological breakthroughs—including faster DNA sequencing and gene-editing tools—are now making it much easier to discover and understand the helpful compounds these fungi produce, potentially leading to new medicines.

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Harnessing the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the production of fungal secondary metabolites

Scientists have learned to use common baker’s yeast (S. cerevisiae) as a biological factory to produce valuable medicines and compounds that naturally come from fungi and mushrooms. By transferring the genetic instructions for making these compounds into yeast cells and improving them with genetic engineering, researchers can now produce therapeutically important substances like cancer-fighting drugs and antibiotics in large quantities. This approach is more practical and cost-effective than trying to extract these rare compounds directly from their native fungal sources or using other production methods.

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Unveiling the Therapeutic Potentials of Mushroom Bioactive Compounds in Alzheimer’s Disease

Mushrooms contain special compounds that may help protect the brain from Alzheimer’s disease. Research shows that eating mushrooms regularly could reduce the risk of memory problems and cognitive decline in older adults. These compounds work by reducing brain inflammation, protecting nerve cells, and helping the brain clear out harmful proteins. While these findings are promising, more human studies are needed to confirm how effective mushrooms are as an Alzheimer’s treatment.

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Haplotype-Phased Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly of Floccularia luteovirens Provides Insights into Its Taxonomy, Adaptive Evolution, and Biosynthetic Potential

Scientists successfully decoded the complete genetic blueprint of the yellow mushroom (Floccularia luteovirens), a valuable medicinal fungus found on the Tibetan Plateau. The high-quality genome assembly revealed the mushroom produces many different beneficial compounds like antitumor and anti-inflammatory molecules. The study also corrected previous scientific confusion about the mushroom’s evolutionary classification, showing it’s more closely related to other fungi than previously thought, and revealed how it adapted to harsh alpine conditions.

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Multi-omics analysis of Taiwanofungus gaoligongensis: effects of different cultivation methods on secondary metabolites

Scientists studied a medicinal mushroom called Taiwanofungus gaoligongensis to understand how different growing methods affect the production of beneficial compounds. They found that growing the mushroom in special bags with certain wood substrates produced far more of the valuable compounds (up to 12-fold more) compared to growing it on rice medium. By examining which genes were active in different growing conditions, they discovered how the mushroom’s cells control the production of these medicinal compounds, which could help farmers grow more potent medicinal mushrooms.

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Phytochemicals as promising agents in Axl-targeted cancer treatment

This review examines natural plant compounds that can block Axl, a protein that helps cancer cells survive and spread. Scientists found that compounds from common foods like apples, grapes, green tea, ginger, and chamomile can reduce Axl levels and kill cancer cells. These natural compounds work through different mechanisms and show promise for treating various cancers, including those resistant to standard chemotherapy drugs.

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Localization of Secondary Metabolites in Relict Gymnosperms of the Genus Sequoia In Vivo and in Cell Cultures In Vitro, and the Biological Activity of Their Extracts

Researchers studied an ancient giant redwood tree species to extract valuable medicinal compounds. They successfully grew Sequoia cells in laboratory culture that produced powerful cancer-fighting and antifungal substances. These extracts showed promise against cervical cancer and brain tumor cells while being safe to normal cells, offering a sustainable way to harvest these compounds without damaging wild redwood populations.

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