Mushrooms as a source of compounds that induce programmed cell death in tumour cells

One of the hallmarks of cancer is the ability of tumour cells to resist cell death. Consequently, therapies based on the induction of programmed cell death (PCD) constitute an area of scientific interest. Mushrooms are a demonstrated source of extracts and compounds with antitumour properties. One of such properties is the capacity to induce PCD. This chapter reviews the existing evidence of mushroom extracts inducing apoptosis or autophagy in human tumour cell lines and focuses on the identified compounds that are responsible for those cellular activities including the known pathways involved. This chapter is intended to identify the most bioactive classes of compounds and the cell lines in which they exert their activity. This information aims to present the basis for future works, in order to obtain or create new therapies for the treatment of cancer, including pharmaceutical and/or nutraceutical products.D. Sousa and R.T.Lima for critical comments to the Figures. QREN for the grant of F.S.Reis (NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000023). IPATIMUP is an Associate Laboratory of the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education and is partially supported by Fundação para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT).