Cordycepin is produced in cordyceps as a means of infecting insect populations, due to cordycepin's biological activity[4]
Because cordycepin is similar to adenosine, some enzymes cannot discriminate between the two. It can therefore participate in certain biochemical reactions (for example, 3-dA can trigger the premature termination of mRNA synthesis).[5][6] By acting as an adenosine analog, cordycepin was found to be the most potent molecular circadian clock resetter out of several screened compounds.[7]
Cordycepin has displayed cytotoxicity against some leukemic cell lines in vitro.[8][9][10] Additionally, cordycepin has been shown to display an effect in some types of other cancers, such as lung,[11] renal,[12] colon,[13] and breast cancer.[14] Cordycepin has been shown to reduce viable A549 lung cancer cell populations by 50%.[11]
^Zhou X, Luo L, Dressel W, Shadier G, Krumbiegel D, Schmidtke P, Zepp F, Meyer CU (2008). "Cordycepin is an immunoregulatory active ingredient of Cordyceps sinensis". The American Journal of Chinese Medicine. 36 (5): 967–80. doi:10.1142/S0192415X08006387. PMID19051361.
^Ju D, Zhang W, Yan J, Zhao H, Li W, Wang J, Liao M, Xu Z, Wang Z, Zhou G, Mei L, Hou N, Ying S, Cai T, Chen S, Xie X, Lai L, Tang C, Park N, Takahashi JS, Huang N, Qi X, Zhang EE (6 May 2020). "Chemical perturbations reveal that RUVBL2 regulates the circadian phase in mammals". Science Translational Medicine. 12 (542): eaba0769. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.aba0769. PMID32376767. S2CID218533423.
^National Cancer Institute (2011-02-02). "Definition of cordycepin". NCI Drug Dictionary. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
^Kodama E, McCaffrey R, Yusa K, Mitsuya H (February 2000). "Antileukemic activity and mechanism of action of cordycepin against terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-positive (TdT+) leukemic cells". Biochemical Pharmacology. 59 (3): 273–281. doi:10.1016/S0006-2952(99)00325-1. PMID10609556.
^Chou S, Lai W, Hong T, Lai J, Tsai S, Chen Y, Yu S, Kao C, Chu R, Ding S, Li T, Shen T (October 2014). "Synergistic property of cordycepin in cultivated Cordyceps militaris-mediated apoptosis in human leukemia cells". Phytomedicine. 21 (12): 1516–1524. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2014.07.014. PMID25442260.