Blazein of a new steroid isolated from Agaricus blazei Murrill (himematsutake) induces cell death and morphological change indicative of apoptotic chromatin condensation in human lung cancer LU99 and stomach cancer KATO III cells.

Blazein was isolated from mushroom (Agaricus blazei Murrill) and identified by Mass and 1H-NMR as blazein. The effect of blazein on the DNA of human various cancer cells was investigated. DNA fragmentations by blazein to oligonucreosomal-sized fragments, a characteristic of apoptosis, were observed in the human lung LU99 and stomach KATO III cancer cells. The DNA fragmentations by blazein were observed from day 2 (KATO III cells) or day 3 (LU99 cells) after the addition of blazein to the culture cells. These findings suggest that growth inhibition by blazein results from the induction of apoptosis by the compound.