BE-29602, a new member of the Papulacandin family

Fusarium-Derived Secondary Metabolites with Antimicrobial Effects

Fungal microbes are important in the creation of new drugs, given their unique genetic and metabolic diversity. As one of the most commonly found fungi in nature, Fusarium spp. has been well regarded as a prolific source of secondary metabolites (SMs) with diverse chemical structures and a broad spectrum of biological properties. However, little information is available concerning their derived SMs with antimicrobial effects. By extensive literature search and data analysis, as many as 185 antimicrobial natural products as SMs had been discovered from Fusarium strains by the end of 2022. This review first provides a comprehensive analysis of these substances in terms of various antimicrobial effects, including antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antiparasitic. Future prospects for the efficient discovery of new bioactive SMs from Fusarium strains are also proposed.

Update on antifungals targeted to the cell wall: focus on beta-1,3-glucan synthase inhibitors

Currently available antifungal drugs for serious infections are either fungistatic and vulnerable to resistance (azoles) or fungicidal but toxic to the host (polyenes). Cell wall-acting antifungals are inherently selective and fungicidal, features that make them particularly attractive for clinical development. Three classes of such compounds, targeted respectively to chitin synthase (nikkomycins), beta-1,3-glucan synthase (echinocandins) and mannoproteins (pradimicins/benanomicins), have entered clinical development. While nikkomycins and pradimicins/benanomicins are no longer in development, echinocandins have emerged as potentially clinically useful and three compounds, caspofungin (MK-991, L-743,872), micafungin (FK-463) and anidulafungin (LY-303366) are in late clinical development (Phase II and III).

Enantioselective synthesis of the papulacandin ring system: conversion of the mannose diastereoisomer into a glucose stereoisomer

[structure] An enantioselective synthesis of three diastereoisomers of the C-arylglycoside tricyclic spiroketal nucleus of the papulacandins has been achieved, in which the initial asymmetry was introduced via a Sharpless dihydroxylation of substituted 5-aryl-2-vinylfurans. A selective oxidation-reduction sequence converted the mannose isomer into the glucose isomer. This sequence can conveniently produce both the papulacandin ring system along with its enantiomer and diastereomers in only 10-14 steps from 3,5-dimethoxybenzyl alcohol in 5-8% overall yield.

Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation of 5-aryl-2-vinylfurans: application to the synthesis of the spiroketal moiety of papulacandin D

[formula: see text] Using the Sharpless catalytic asymmetric dihydroxylation reaction on 5-aryl-2-vinylfurans, diols are produced in high enantioexcess. The resulting diols can be efficiently transformed into the spiroketal ring precursor of the antifungal compound papulacandin D. Stereoselective reduction of this precursor followed by a diastereoselective dihydroxylation completes the synthesis of a mannopyranoside isomer of a papulacandin derivative.