Computational Molecular Biology 2025, Vol.15, No.2, 75-83 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/cmb 76 The main purpose of this study is to explore the development potential and market potential of Cordyceps polysaccharides in the fields of medicine and health products. We will systematically review its chemical structure, biological activity, and existing applications, in order to identify which technological aspects can still be innovated and the key directions for commercialization. Of course, the demands of the global market are constantly changing, with both challenges and opportunities. This part will also be analyzed in depth, with the aim of providing practical strategic recommendations for sustainable production and market expansion. Overall, it is hoped that through these works, we can deepen everyone's scientific understanding of Cordyceps polysaccharides, promote their more effective industrialization, and make them a natural product with clear functions, truly playing a role in improving public health and supplementing existing medical methods. 2 Physicochemical Properties and Bioactivity of Cordyceps Polysaccharides 2.1 Chemical structure and extraction methods Cordyceps polysaccharides-especially the part extracted from Cordyceps militaris-actually have quite diverse extraction methods and relatively complex structures, so there have always been many studies focusing on this aspect. Generally speaking, this type of polysaccharide mainly consists of some biologically active β -glucan, but the actual structure may also change due to different conditions. For instance, it was found that Cordyceps militaris polysaccharides cultivated in an environment with a pH of 8 to 9 have higher antioxidant activity. The process of extracting and purifying these polysaccharides is rather troublesome. The commonly used method is hot water extraction, combined with methods such as ion exchange or gel permeation chromatography, to separate polysaccharides with relatively specific structures (Jing et al., 2015). Not only these, more detailed structural analyses still rely on techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) to clearly see how the glycosidic bonds are connected and whether there are branches, etc. (Bi et al., 2018). 2.2 Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory functions Cordyceps polysaccharides have many biological activities that are of great concern, especially in antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immune regulation aspects. Research has found that they have a significant ability to scavenge free radicals and can also protect DNA well, reducing damage caused by oxidation. In terms of immune response, these polysaccharides can enhance lymphocyte proliferation and also increase macrophage activity-although this process is often related to signaling pathways such as TLR2, MAPK, and NF-κ B. In addition, Cordyceps polysaccharides have shown certain anti-inflammatory effects, which also suggests their potential application space in treating some inflammation related diseases (Ren et al., 2019). 2.3 Recent advances in pharmacological studies Recent pharmacological studies have found that Cordyceps polysaccharides actually have many potential therapeutic uses. For instance, they can be used as natural immune stimulants or in the auxiliary management of some metabolic diseases. Take the polysaccharides proposed in Cordyceps cicadae as an example. It can help improve glucose metabolism through signaling pathways such as PI3K/Akt, and at the same time reduce insulin resistance. The effect of lowering blood sugar is quite obvious (Zhang et al., 2019). In addition, if some structural modifications are made to these polysaccharides, such as carboxymethylation or acetylation, their biological activities can be further enhanced-for instance, by inhibiting α -glucosidase. These results all indicate that Cordyceps polysaccharides may have considerable application prospects in the development of functional foods or drugs in the future (Liu et al., 2020). 3 Applications of Cordyceps Polysaccharides in Medicine 3.1 Potential applications in anti-tumor drugs When it comes to Cordyceps polysaccharides, especially those extracted from Cordyceps sinensis, more and more people are paying attention to the development of anti-tumor drugs nowadays, and many studies have indeed seen its potential in anti-cancer (Cai et al., 2024). For instance, experiments have found that this type of polysaccharide can enhance immune function and induce apoptosis of tumor cells through pathways such as IL-10/STAT3/Bcl2 and Cyto-c/Caspase8/310, thereby inhibiting the growth of H22 tumors in mice. In fact, it is not just like this. At
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