ANTITUMOR COMPONENTS OF THE CULTURE FILTRATES FROM TRICHOLOMA SP

The anti-tumour component (Fraction A) found in the culture filtrates of a local mushroom, Tricholoma sp. (strain STC20-T1), was purified using DEAE-cellulose ion exchange chromatography and Sepharose CL-4B gel filtration. Of its two purified sub-fractions, A-1 and A-2, only the latter showed anti-tumour activity. When Fraction A-2 was treated with cetyltrimethylammonium hydroxide and chloroform/butanol (24:1, v/v), it behaved as a protein-bound polysaccharide, with a molecular mass estimated to be 154 kDa by gel filtration. It contained 40% polysaccharide, which consisted of fucose, galactose, glucose, arabinose and mannose, and 30.5% protein, the amino-acid composition of which was determined. Fraction A-2 could inhibit the growth of Sarcoma-180 implanted in mice intraperitoneally and subcutaneously, with no sign of toxicity, at a dose of 20 mg/kg.day for 10 days.