Research Paper Volume 13, Issue 10 pp 13474—13495
Ganoderma lucidum stimulates autophagy-dependent longevity pathways in Caenorhabditis elegans and human cells
- 1 Center for Molecular and Clinical Immunology, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
- 2 Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan
- 3 Chang Gung Immunology Consortium, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan
- 4 Research Center of Bacterial Pathogenesis, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
- 5 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
- 6 Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
- 7 Liver Research Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan
- 8 Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan
- 9 Biochemical Engineering Research Center, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City, Taiwan
- 10 Chang Gung Biotechnology Corporation, Taipei, Taiwan
- 11 Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of the Pacific, Arthur Dugoni School of Dentistry, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA
Received: October 28, 2020 Accepted: April 29, 2021 Published: May 20, 2021
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.203068How to Cite
Copyright: © 2021 Peng et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
The medicinal fungus Ganoderma lucidum is used as a dietary supplement and health tonic, but whether it affects longevity remains unclear. We show here that a water extract of G. lucidum mycelium extends lifespan of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The G. lucidum extract reduces the level of fibrillarin (FIB-1), a nucleolar protein that correlates inversely with longevity in various organisms. Furthermore, G. lucidum treatment increases expression of the autophagosomal protein marker LGG-1, and lifespan extension is abrogated in mutant C. elegans strains that lack atg-18, daf-16, or sir-2.1, indicating that autophagy and stress resistance pathways are required to extend lifespan. In cultured human cells, G. lucidum increases concentrations of the LGG-1 ortholog LC3 and reduces levels of phosphorylated mTOR, a known inhibitor of autophagy. Notably, low molecular weight compounds (<10 kDa) isolated from the G. lucidum water extract prolong lifespan of C. elegans and the same compounds induce autophagy in human cells. These results suggest that G. lucidum can increase longevity by inducing autophagy and stress resistance.