Bioactive oxygen-bridged cyclooctadienes from endophytic fungus Phomopsis sp. BCC 45011

Chemical compounds from Osmunda japonica and their NO inhibitory activity

Two new compounds, osmjapterpenoid A (1) and osmunjaponin A (2), along with twenty-six known compounds, were isolated from the roots and rhizomes of Osmunda japonica Thunb. The chemical structures of them were elaborated by extensive spectroscopic means, including 1D, 2D-NMR and HR-ESI-MS. Compound 1 is a diterpenoid derived from cembrane with a novel skeleton of 5/13 dicyclic ring system. The possible biogentic pathway of 1 was deduced. Compounds 3 and 26 exhibited moderate inhibition on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW 264.7 macrophages with IC50 value of 32.09 and 19.81 μM, respectively.

Unsaturation of serine lipids modulating the interaction of a cytosporone with models of the external leaflet of tumorigenic cell membranes

Cytosporone-B was isolated from fungi and incorporated in models of tumorigenic cell membranes using palmitoyloleoylglycerophosphoserine (POPS) and dipalmitoyl glycerophosphoserine (DPPS) lipids. While for DPPS, the compound condensed the monolayer and decreased the surface compressional modulus, it expanded and kept the compressional modulus for POPS. Hysteresis for compression-expansion cycles was more sensitive for POPS than for DPPS, while a high degree of destabilization was observed for POPS. As observed with infrared spectroscopy and Brewster angle microscopy, specific changes were selective regarding molecular organization and morphology. Atomic force microscopy for transferred monolayers as Langmuir-Blodgett films also confirmed such specificities. We believe these data can help understand the mechanism of action of bioactive drugs in lipid interfaces at the molecular level.

A new neolignan and a new phenolic acid from the heartwood of Mansonia gagei J.R. Drumm

One new neolignan (1) and one new phenolic compound (2), together with four known compounds (3-6) were isolated from the heartwood of Mansonia gagei. Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2D NMR and HRESIMS. The absolute configuration of 2 was established based on the DP4+ protocol and by comparison of experimental and calculated ECD spectra. All isolated compounds were evaluated by DPPH assay for antioxidant activity, while compounds 3-6 were assayed using the MTT-based colorimetric assay for cytotoxicity against lung cancer cell line A549. In terms of antioxidant activity, 1 and 3 exhibited stronger activity (IC50 14.91 ± 1.10 and 17.46 ± 0.16 μM, respectively) than the positive control, ascorbic acid (IC50 30.20 ± 0.47 μM). Among the compounds tested for cytotoxicity, compound 3 showed the highest activity, with an IC50 value of 26.04 ± 2.95 µM.

Integrating Taxonomic and Chemical Diversity of Mangrove-Associated Ascomycetes to Discover or Repurpose Bioactive Natural Products

Natural product reisolation is a bottleneck when discovering new bioactive chemical entities from nature. To overcome this issue, multi-informative approaches integrating several layers of data have been applied with promising results. In this study, integration of taxonomy, nontargeted metabolomics, and bioactivity information resulted in the selection of Scytalidium sp. IQ-074 and Diaporthe sp. IQ-053 to isolate new natural products active against hPTP1B1-400 and repurpose others as antibiotics. Strain IQ-074 was selected based on the hypothesis that investigating poorly studied and highly metabolic taxa could lead to the isolation of new chemical entities. A chemical investigation of IQ-074 resulted in the isolation of papyracillic acid A (14), 7-deoxypapyracillic acid A (15a and 15b), and linear polyketides scytalpolyols A-D (16-19). Compound 17 inhibited hPTP1B1-400 with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration of 27.0 ± 1.7 μM. Diaporthe sp. IQ-053 was selected based on its antibacterial properties against pathogenic strains. Its chemical investigation yielded dothiorelones A (20) and I (21), cytosporones B (22) and C (23), pestalotiopsone B (24), and diaporthalasin (25). Compounds 22 and 25 inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis 42R and moderately inhibited the growth of Acinetobacter baumannii A564, a pandrug-resistant bacterium.

Bioactive Secondary Metabolites of the Genus Diaporthe and Anamorph Phomopsis from Terrestrial and Marine Habitats and Endophytes: 2010-2019

The genus Diaporthe and its anamorph Phomopsis are distributed worldwide in many ecosystems. They are regarded as potential sources for producing diverse bioactive metabolites. Most species are attributed to plant pathogens, non-pathogenic endophytes, or saprobes in terrestrial host plants. They colonize in the early parasitic tissue of plants, provide a variety of nutrients in the cycle of parasitism and saprophytism, and participate in the basic metabolic process of plants. In the past ten years, many studies have been focused on the discovery of new species and biological secondary metabolites from this genus. In this review, we summarize a total of 335 bioactive secondary metabolites isolated from 26 known species and various unidentified species of Diaporthe and Phomopsis during 2010-2019. Overall, there are 106 bioactive compounds derived from Diaporthe and 246 from Phomopsis, while 17 compounds are found in both of them. They are classified into polyketides, terpenoids, steroids, macrolides, ten-membered lactones, alkaloids, flavonoids, and fatty acids. Polyketides constitute the main chemical population, accounting for 64%. Meanwhile, their bioactivities mainly involve cytotoxic, antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-algae, phytotoxic, and enzyme inhibitory activities. Diaporthe and Phomopsis exhibit their potent talents in the discovery of small molecules for drug candidates.

Antibiotics from Extremophilic Micromycetes

Extremophilic microorganisms, which are capable of functioning normally at extremely high or low temperatures, pressure, and in other environmental conditions, have been in the focus of microbiologists' attention for several decades due to the biotechnological potential of enzymes inherent in extremophiles. These enzymes (also called extremozymes) are used in the production of food and detergents and other industries. At the same time, the inhabitants of extreme econiches remained almost unexplored for a long time in terms of the chemistry of natural compounds. In recent years, the emergence of new antibiotic-resistant strains of pathogens, which affect humans and animals has become a global problem. The problem is compounded by a strong slowdown in the development of new antibiotics. In search of new active substances and scaffolds for medical chemistry, researchers turn to unexplored natural sources. In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of studies on secondary metabolites produced by extremophiles. From the discovery of penicillin to the present day, micromycetes, along with actinobacteria, are one of the most productive sources of antibiotic compounds for medicine and agriculture. Many authors consider extremophilic micromycetes as a promising source of small molecules with an unusual mechanism of action or significant structural novelty. This review summarizes the latest (for 2018-2019) experimental data on antibiotic compounds, which are produced by extremophilic micromycetes with various types of adaptation. Active metabolites are classified by the type of structure and biosynthetic origin. The data on the biological activity of the isolated metabolites are summarized.

Structurally Diverse Polyketides From the Mangrove-Derived Fungus Diaporthe sp. SCSIO 41011 With Their Anti-influenza A Virus Activities

Influenza A virus (IAV) is a severe worldwide threat to public health and economic development due to its high morbidity and mortality. Marine-derived fungi have been evidenced as a prolific source for the discovery of pharmacologically-active lead compounds. During the course of our search for novel bioactive substances from marine microorganisms, six new polyketides, including two octaketides (1-2), one chromone derivative (13), two highly substituted phthalides (17-18), and one α-pyrone derivative (21) along with 22 known congeners were isolated from a mangrove-associated fungus Diaporthe sp. SCSIO 41011. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis and by comparison with literature data. And the absolute configurations were established according to the specific rotation or electron circular dichroism method. Antiviral evaluation results revealed that compounds 14, 15, 26, and 5-chloroisorotiorin displayed significant anti-IAV activities against three influenza A virus subtypes, including A/Puerto Rico/8/34 H274Y (H1N1), A/FM-1/1/47 (H1N1), and A/Aichi/2/68 (H3N2), with IC₅₀ values in the range of 2.52-39.97 μM. The preliminary structure-activity relationships (SARs) are also discussed. These findings expand the chemical and bioactive diversity of polyketides derived from the genus Diaporthe, and also provide a basis for further development and utilization of chromone, xanthone, and chloroazaphilone derivatives as source of potential anti-viral chemotherapy agents.

Novel natural compounds from endophytic fungi with anticancer activity

Plant endophytes are microorganisms that live in healthy plant tissues in part or all of their life history without causing obvious symptoms of infection in the host plants. Endophytes, a new type of microbial resource that can produce a variety of biological constituents, have great values for research and broad prospects for development. This article reviewed the research and development progress of endophytic fungi with cytotoxic activity between 2014 and 2017, including endophytic fungi sources, microbial taxonomy, compound classification and cytotoxic activity. The results showed that the 109 strains of endophytic fungi belong to 3 phyla, 7 classes and 50 genera. The secondary metabolites mainly contained alkaloids, terpenes, steroids, polyketides, quinones, isocoumarins, esters etc. The results of this study provide references for the development of new antitumor drugs and endophytes resources.

Cytotoxic Polyketides with an Oxygen-Bridged Cyclooctadiene Core Skeleton from the Mangrove Endophytic Fungus Phomosis sp. A818

Plant endophytic microorganisms represent a largely untapped resource for new bioactive natural products. Eight polyketide natural products were isolated from a mangrove endophytic fungus Phomosis sp. A818. The structural elucidation of these compounds revealed that they share a distinct feature in their chemical structures, an oxygen-bridged cyclooctadiene core skeleton. The study on their structure-activity relationship showed that the α,β-unsaturated δ-lactone moiety, as exemplified in compounds 1 and 2, was critical to the cytotoxic activity of these compounds. In addition, compound 4 might be a potential agonist of AMPK (5'-adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase).

A new biphenyl derivative from the mangrove endophytic fungus Phomopsis longicolla HL-2232

A new biphenyl derivative 5,5'-dimethoxybiphenyl-2,2'-diol (1), together with five known compounds (2-5), was isolated from the mangrove endophytic fungus Phomopsis longicolla HL-2232. The structures of these compounds were elucidated using comprehensive spectroscopic methods. The absolute configuration of 4 was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction for the first time. The inhibitory activities of all compounds against two Vibrio bacteria were evaluated.