Cytotoxic Activity of Ergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one from the Sclerotia of Polyporus umbellatus

Key Words : Polyporus umbellatus, Ergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one, Cytotoxic activity Polyporus umbellatus (also called Grifola umbellata) is a mushroom causing a white rot in hardwoods.The sclerotia of P. umbellata are bumpy and rugged in shape and dark brown to black in color.They are used as a diuretic in Chinese medicine.1 It was reported that the water extracts of the sclerotia of P. umbellata have diuretic effects and its methanol extracts have cytotoxic effects against human gastric cancer cell.However, the active components were unknown. 2 Erogostrol, erogosterol peroxide, glucan, and ergsta-7,22-dien-3-ol have been identified from sclerotia of P. umbellatus.[3][4] However there is no report on the cytotoxic activity of the compounds isolated from the sclerotia of P. umbellatus.In this study, we report the isolation and identification of cytotoxic compound from the sclerotia of P. umbellatus.Its structure was elucidated by FT-IR, 1-D and 2-D NMR spectroscopy and we finally demonstrated the cytotoxic activities of the compound. Experimental SectionMaterials.The sclerotia of P. umbellatus were collected from the market at Seoul and were identified by Dr. K.