Recognition of the impact of <i>Hericium erinaceus</i> mycelium extract on ethanol-damaged gastric epithelial cells using atomic force microscopy

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is used to measure live cells. Changes in the biomechanical properties of a single cell under <i>Hericium erinaceus</i> mycelium extract (<i>Heme</i>) treatment play a critical role in drug efficacy evaluation and drug development, but they remain underexplored. In this study, ethanol-damaged human gastric mucosal cells (GES-1) treated with <i>Heme</i> were examined through AFM to investigate the physical changes. GES-1 cells were exposed to 5% ethanol to create a cell damage model. <i>Heme</i>-induced physical changes in the cell damage model were evaluated using AFM, including cell surface morphology, adhesion force, Young's modulus, and cell surface roughness. For comparison, the GES-1 cells were treated with various concentrations of <i>Heme</i> as a normal group. The scratch assay and colony-forming assay were conducted to determine the growth-promoting effects of <i>Heme</i>. The results show that 200 μg mL^-1 of <i>Heme</i> is the optimal dosage, exhibiting the best repair capacity. This study presents a single-cell <i>in situ</i> approach for evaluating the drug efficacy of <i>Heme</i>, and the methodology used in this study is expected to investigate the effects of other drugs and physical and chemical factors.