The use of natural substances derived from traditional Chinese medicine and other natural plants as safe radiosensitizing adjuvants is a new trend for cancer radiotherapy.

Recently, Prof. HUANG Qing’s group from the Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, found that ganoderic acid T (GAT) extracted from Ganoderma, a kind of fungi, could convert apoptosis to necroptosis, improving the radiosensitivity of HeLa cells.

Ganoderma lucidum has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine with a history of more than 2000 years. GAT is a typical triterpene of G. lucidum, which has strong cytotoxicity to cancer cells, but whether it has radiation sensitization effect has not been explored.

In this study, the researchers confirmed that GAT could induce not only apoptosis but also necroptosis in the HeLa cells exposed to ionizing radiation. They found that when the concentration of GAT increased, the death state of HeLa cells would change from apoptotic to necroptotic.

Besides, they studied the mechanism, and found that GAT could hinder cell cycle when radiated, which leads to consumption of intracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP), increase of Reactive oxygen species (ROS), decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential, and the transformation of necroptosis.

This study provides insights into the pathways and mechanism of the radiation sensitization effect of GAT, and provides a new direction for the research and development of traditional Chinese medicines and other natural products as effective radiosensitizing adjuvants in tumor radiation therapy.