Pseurotin D Inhibits the Activation of Human Lymphocytes

Anticancer Effect of Mycotoxins From Penicillium aurantiogriseum: Exploration of Natural Product Potential

Research into biologically natural substances with antitumor properties, known for their potential to induce fewer side effects and exhibit specificity toward cancerous cells, remains imperative. The pressing demand for novel agents in cancer therapy underscores the intensive investigation of natural products from microorganisms. Penicillium aurantiogriseum, frequently isolated from food and feed, emerges as a promising candidate against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. This species harbors numerous mycotoxins that warrant extensive clinical study due to their potential in cancer treatment. Identifying mycotoxins with anticancer properties produced by P. aurantiogriseum could unveil novel therapeutic targets and enrich the pharmacological landscape. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the utilization of P. aurantiogriseum mycotoxins in cancer research and elucidates therapeutic agents' advantages and limitations. P. aurantiogriseum produces at least 15 mycotoxins with potent anticancer effects mediated through diverse mechanisms, including enzyme inhibition (e.g., pseurotin), induction of apoptosis (e.g., auranthine, aurantiamides A, aurantiomides A-C, penicillic acid, penitrem, verrucisidinol, acetate verrucosidinol, and chaetoglobosin A), and cell-cycle arrest (e.g., anicequol, aurantiamine, and Taxol). Although certain mycotoxins, such as Taxol, Anacin, and Compactin, are used in commerce, many others remain relatively unexplored. The mycotoxins derived from P. aurantiogriseum hold considerable potential for cancer treatment, offering novel therapeutic avenues and enhancing current treatments through synergistic combinations and advanced delivery systems.

Biosynthesis of fungal polyketides by collaborating and trans-acting enzymes

Covering: 1999 up to 2021Fungal polyketides encompass a range of structurally diverse molecules with a wide variety of biological activities. The giant multifunctional enzymes that synthesize polyketide backbones remain enigmatic, as do many of the tailoring enzymes involved in functional modifications. Recent advances in elucidating biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) have revealed numerous examples of fungal polyketide synthases that require the action of collaborating enzymes to synthesize the carbon backbone. This review will discuss collaborating and trans-acting enzymes involved in loading, extending, and releasing polyketide intermediates from fungal polyketide synthases, and additional modifications introduced by trans-acting enzymes demonstrating the complexity encountered when investigating natural product biosynthesis in fungi.

Janus-Faced Molecules against Plant Pathogenic Fungi

The high cytotoxicity of the secondary metabolites of mycotoxins is capable of killing microbes and tumour cells alike, similarly to the genotoxic effect characteristic of Janus-faced molecules. The "double-edged sword" effect of several cytotoxins is known, and these agents have, therefore, been utilized only reluctantly against fungal infections. In this review, consideration was given to (a) toxins that could be used against plant and human pathogens, (b) animal models that measure the effect of antifungal agents, (c) known antifungal agents that have been described and efficiently prevent the growth of fungal cells, and (d) the chemical interactions that are characteristic of antifungal agents. The utilization of apoptotic effects against tumour growth by agents that, at the same time, induce mutations may raise ethical issues. Nevertheless, it deserves consideration despite the mutagenic impact of Janus-faced molecules for those patients who suffer from plant pathogenic fungal infections and are older than their fertility age, in the same way that the short-term cytotoxicity of cancer treatment is favoured over the long-term mutagenic effect.

Pseurotin D Induces Apoptosis through Targeting Redox Sensitive Pathways in Human Lymphoid Leukemia Cells

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most prevalent lymphoid malignancy in many geographical regions of the world. Pseurotin D, a secondary metabolite of fungi, represents a group of bioactive natural products with a newly ascribed range of interesting biological activities. The purpose of this study was to bring new insights into the mechanism behind the effects of pseurotin D on MEC-1 cells as a representative CLL cell line, with a particular focus on selected signaling pathways important in the proliferation of cells and targeting mitochondrial metabolism. Our results showed that pseurotin D was able to significantly inhibit the proliferation of MEC-1 cells and arrested them in the G2/M cell cycle phase. In addition, pseurotin D was able to induce apoptosis. We found that all of these effects were associated with a change in mitochondrial membrane potential and the production of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS). We showed for the first time that pseurotin D suppresses MEC-1 cell proliferation and induces apoptotic cell death via induction of the collapse of the mitochondria respiratory chain and the ROS-related caspase pathway. Our results show the pseurotins family as promising compounds which could serve as a basis for the development of new compounds in the treatment of lymphoma.