Silver ear (Tremella faciformis) also called white tree ear (Tremella faciformis) has been used for food and food supplements historically in the Chinese and Taiwanese populations. People recognized that consuming silver ear can improve their health. The majority of silver ear (Tremella faciformis) comes from China but the quality is not reliable and it was found that much of the product was contaminated and not safe for human consumption. Further complicating our knowledge of silver ear is that its function of Silver ear (Tremella faciformis) on immune response in vitro and in vivo is not understood. The major silver ear components are proteins, amino acids and polysaccharides, however, the polysaccharides have been shown to have antitumor activity. Tremella polysaccharide and acidic heteroglycans can promote interleukins (IL)-2 and -6 secretions. Heteroglycans can promote the secretion of IL-1, IL-6 and TNF from human leukocytes in vitro. Based on those observations, we propose that silver ear may stimulate immune responses in mice and human in vivo. Therefore, sub-project 4 to be conducted by Jing-Gung Chung (Department of Biological Science and Technology, China Medical University) will collaborate with faculty of the College of Life Science at Asia University on the project “The development of functional products and key technologies for mass product of silver ear” (Tremella faciformis) polysaccharides) in order to generate its functional products. The crude extract and major component of Tremella faciformis will be used for a three year project in our experimental platform for immune responses in vitro and in vivo. This sub-project 4 can be divided into 3 parts. Part 1 (first year) is to investigate the effects of silver ear (Tremella faciformis) and major components on the immune response in normal mice in vivo. Part 2 (second year) is to investigate the effects of silver ear (Tremella faciformis) and major components on the immune response in immune deficiency mice such as nu/nu and SCID mice in vivo. Part 3 (third year) is to investigate the effects of silver ear (Tremella faciformis) on the immune response in normal human subjects in vivo. The overall goals of sub-project 4 are: 1) after three year of experiments we will identify silver ear (Tremella faciformis) functions and major components on the immune response in normal mice and human subjects in vivo; 2) we will publish at least 3 research papers on effects of silver ear (Tremella faciformis) on immune responses and major components in vivo; and 3) new knowledge on the associate mechanisms regarding to promote immune response of silver ear (Tremella faciformis) and major components in vitro and in vivo.
