Liglaurates A-E, cytotoxic bis(lauric acid-12yl)lignanoates from the rhizomes of Drynaria roosii Nakaike

Insights into Chemical Diversity and Potential Health-Promoting Effects of Ferns

The scientific community is focusing on how to enhance human health and immunity through functional foods, and dietary supplements are proven to have a positive as well as a protective effect against infectious and chronic diseases. Ferns act as a taxonomical linkage between higher and lower plants and are endowed with a wide chemical diversity not subjected to sufficient scrutinization before. Even though a wealth of traditional medicinal fern uses were recorded in Chinese medicine, robust phytochemical and biological investigations of these plants are lacking. Herein, an extensive search was conducted using the keywords ferns and compounds, ferns and NMR, ferns and toxicity, and the terms ferns and chemistry, lignans, Polypodiaceae, NMR, isolation, bioactive compounds, terpenes, phenolics, phloroglucinols, monoterpenes, alkaloids, phenolics, and fatty acids were utilized with the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT. Databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Reaxys were utilized to reveal a wealth of information regarding fern chemistry and their health-promoting effects. Terpenes followed by phenolics represented the largest number of isolated active compounds. Regarding the neuroprotective effects, Psilotium, Polypodium, and Dryopteris species possessed as their major phenolics component unique chemical moieties including catechins, procyanidins, and bioflavonoids. In this updated chemical review, the pharmacological and chemical aspects of ferns are compiled manifesting their chemical diversity in the last seven years (2017-2024) together with a special focus on their nutritive and potential health-promoting effects.

Five previously undescribed citrinin derivatives from the endophytic fungus Penicillium citrinum GZWMJZ-836

Penicillium citrinum GZWMJZ-836 is an endophytic fungus from Drynaria roosii Nakaike. Five previously undescribed citrinin derivatives (1-5) and six intermediates related to their biosynthesis (6-11) were obtained from the extract of this strain's solid fermentation using multiple column chromatography separations, including high-performance liquid chromatography. The structures of these compounds were determined through comprehensive spectroscopic analyses, primarily using NMR and HRESIMS data. The stereochemistry was mainly confirmed by ECD calculations, and the configurations of C-7' in compounds 4 and 5 were determined using 13C NMR calculations. Compounds 4-5 and 8 showed antibacterial activity against five strains, with minimum inhibitory concentration values ranging from 7.8 to 125 μM. Compounds 4 and 7 exhibited inhibitions against three plant pathogenic fungi, with IC50 values ranging from 66.6 to 152.1 μM. Additionally, a putative biosynthetic pathway for compounds 1-5 derived from citrinin was proposed.

Two New 4-Hydroxy-2-pyridone Alkaloids with Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Activities from Arthrinium sp. GZWMJZ-606 Endophytic with Houttuynia cordata Thunb

Two new 4-hydroxy-2-pyridone alkaloids furanpydone A and B (1 and 2), along with two known compounds N-hydroxyapiosporamide (3) and apiosporamide (4) were isolated from the endophytic fungus Arthrinium sp. GZWMJZ-606 in Houttuynia cordata Thunb. Furanpydone A and B had unusual 5-(7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane)-4-hydroxy-2-pyridone skeleton. Their structures including absolute configurations were determined on the basis of spectroscopic analysis, as well as the X-ray diffraction experiment. Compound 1 showed inhibitory activity against ten cancer cell lines (MKN-45, HCT116, K562, A549, DU145, SF126, A-375, 786O, 5637, and PATU8988T) with IC₅₀ values from 4.35 to 9.72 µM. Compounds 1, 3 and 4 showed moderate inhibitory effects against four Gram-positive strains (Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus, Bacillus Subtilis, Clostridium perfringens) and one Gram-negative strain (Ralstonia solanacarum) with MIC values from 1.56 to 25 µM. However, compounds 1-4 showed no obvious inhibitory activity against two Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and two pathogenic fungi (Candida albicans and Candida glabrata) at 50 µM. These results show that compounds 1-4 are expected to be developed as lead compounds for antibacterial or anti-tumor drugs.

Synthesis and Antitumor Activity of Staurosporine Derivatives

Twenty-four derivatives of staurosporine were synthesized by modification at the 3′- N, 3- and 7-positions. Of these compounds, 16 were synthesized for the first time and their structures were determined by NMR spectroscopy, ECD, and HRESIMS. Their inhibitory activities against seven tumor cell lines, MV4-11 (leukemia), MCF-7 (breast carcinoma), HCT-116 (colon cancer), TE-1 (esophageal carcinoma), PATU8988 T (pancreatic cancer), HOS (osteosarcoma) and GBC-SD (gallbladder cancer), and human normal liver cell L-02 were evaluated using a Cell Counting Kit-8. The IC50 values for 7-oxo-3′- N-benzoylstaurosporin (4) on MV4-11 and PATU8988 T cells were 0.078 and 0.666 μmol/L, and the selection indexes were 1254 and 147, respectively. The IC50 values of 7-oxo-3-chloro-3′- N-benzoylstaurosporine (5) and (7 R)-7-hydroxy-3-bromo-3′- N-acetylstaurosporine (24) on MCF-7 cells were 0.029 and 0.021 μmol/L, and the selection indexes were 102 and 221, respectively. The above compounds have the potential to be developed further into antitumor drugs due to the advantages of high efficiency and low toxicity.