| Summary: | Morchella esculenta (Morchellaceae), one of the most widely appreciated wild edible mushrooms, has demonstrated antitumor activity both in vivo and in vitro. However, the molecular basis underlying its antitumor activity has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we examined the biological effects of the MeOH extract of M. esculenta fruiting bodies on four human lung adenocarcinoma cell lines. Bioactivity-guided fractionation of the MeOH extract followed by chemical investigation of its most cytotoxic hexane-soluble fraction led to the isolation of eight compounds (1 −8), including three fatty acids and five sterols. This is the first report of the isolation of compounds 1 and 3–7 from M. esculenta. Among the eight isolated compounds tested, compounds 1, 3, and 5 exhibited the most potent cytotoxicity to human lung cancer cell lines, with IC50 values ranging from 156.9 to 278 M; this activity was mediated by induction of apoptosis.
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