Study on the triterpenoid components of lanostane in traditional Chinese medicine Ganoderma lucidum
There are currently about 100000 reported fungal species, but it is estimated that there are still many more fungi that have not been specifically identified. Many large fungi (commonly known as mushrooms) are sources of many structurally novel and/or highly active natural products, and Ganoderma lucidum in the family Polyporus is one of them.
Lingzhi is a dried fruiting body of various Lingzhi species in the Polyporus family of the Basidiomycota phylum. It is a common medicinal and edible fungus in China and was first used as a medicine in the “Shennong Bencao Jing”. It has a history of over a thousand years of medicinal use. Since the 1950s, artificial cultivation of Ganoderma lucidum fruiting bodies has been achieved. With the development of deep fermentation culture technology for Ganoderma lucidum mycelium, research and development of Ganoderma lucidum have become increasingly widespread. Ganoderma lucidum is rich in chemical components, including polysaccharides, proteins, organic acids, small molecule alkaloids, sesquiterpenes, triterpenes, and steroids. These compounds exhibit various pharmacological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, and antioxidant effects. Triterpenes are the main active secondary metabolites in Ganoderma lucidum fruiting bodies, with a wide range of pharmacological activities, gradually attracting people’s attention. At present, the triterpenoids isolated from Ganoderma lucidum are mostly 6/6/6/5 conjugated tetracyclolanostane, with a total number of over 200. In the early stage, we discovered a large number of novel triterpenoids, a small amount of alkaloids, and sesquiterpenes from different types of Ganoderma lucidum. In order to further understand the pharmacological substance basis of traditional Chinese medicine Ganoderma lucidum and improve its comprehensive resource utilization efficiency, this study isolated, purified, and structurally identified the chemical components of the 95% ethanol fraction of Ganoderma lucidum fruiting bodies, and tested the in vitro anti-tumor activity of the isolated compounds, in order to discover active molecules with further research value.

The relative molecular weight of triterpenoids in Ganoderma lucidum is generally 400~600, and oxygen-containing functional groups such as hydroxyl, carboxyl, ketone, methoxy, acetoxy, etc. are commonly found on the mother nucleus. According to the number of carbon atoms on the skeleton, Ganoderma triterpenoids can be divided into C30, C27, and C24; According to the different functional groups and side chain structures connected, it can be divided into several categories such as ganoderic acids, alcohols, aldehydes, lactones, etc. By extracting and separating the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma lucidum (G. lingzhi), a total of five highly oxidized lanostane triterpenoids were obtained. Among them, compounds 1 and 2 are new 24 lanostane triterpenoids, belonging to the C27 class along with compound 3; Compounds 4 and 5 belong to the C24 class of lanostane triterpenoids. The triterpenoids in Ganoderma lucidum have complex and diverse structures, and exhibit rich biological activities, especially anti-tumor activity. Therefore, compounds 1-5 were screened for in vitro anti-tumor activity (HL-60 A549、SMMC-7721、MCF-7、SW480)， But none of them showed significant cytotoxic activity. G. Lingzhi is a new species of Ganoderma lucidum first proposed by Professor Dai Yucheng in 2012, and later considered to be related to G Schuensei is the same variety, and there are relatively few reports on its chemical composition. This study lays a theoretical foundation for better development and utilization of Ganoderma lucidum, enriching the types of chemical components of the fungus, and exploring its effective active ingredients.