An Australian marine sediment-derived isolate, Nocardiopsis sp. (CMB-M0232), yielded a new class of prenylated diketopiperazine, indicative of the action of a uniquely regioselective diketopiperazine ...indole prenyltransferase. The bridged scaffold of nocardioazine A proved to be a noncytotoxic inhibitor of the membrane protein efflux pump P-glycoprotein, reversing doxorubicin resistance in a multidrug resistant colon cancer cell.
Abstract
Chemical cues produced by late-stage embryos of the cane toad (
Rhinella marina
) attract older conspecific larvae, which are highly cannibalistic and can consume an entire clutch. To ...clarify the molecular basis of this attraction response, we presented captive tadpoles with components present in toad eggs. As previously reported, attractivity arises from the distinctive toxins (bufadienolides) produced by cane toads, with some toxins (e.g., bufagenins) much stronger attractants than others (e.g., bufotoxins). Extracts of frozen toad parotoid glands (rich in bufagenins) were more attractive than were fresh MeOH extracts of the parotoid secretion (rich in bufotoxins), and purified marinobufagin was more effective than marinobufotoxin. Cardenolide aglycones (e.g., digitoxigenin) were active attractors, whereas C-3 glycosides (e.g., digoxin, oubain) were far less effective. A structure–activity relationship study revealed that tadpole attractant potency strongly correlated with Na
+
/K
+
ATPase inhibitory activity, suggesting that tadpoles monitor and rapidly react to perturbations to Na
+
/K
+
ATPase activity.
Chemical analysis of an Australian marine sediment-derived Aspergillus sp. (CMB-M081F) yielded the new diketomorpholine (DKM) shornephine A (1) together with two known and one new diketopiperazine ...(DKP), 15b-β-hydroxy-5-N-acetyladreemin (2), 5-N-acetyladreemin (3), and 15b-β-methoxy-5-N-acetyladreemin (4), respectively. Structure elucidation of 1–4 was achieved by detailed spectroscopic analysis, supported by chemical degradation and derivatization, and biosynthetic considerations. The DKM (1) underwent a facile (auto) acid-mediated methanolysis to yield seco-shornephine A methyl ester (1a). Our mechanistic explanation of this transformation prompted us to demonstrate that the acid-labile and solvolytically unstable DKM scaffold can be stabilized by N-alkylation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that at 20 μM shornephine A (1) is a noncytotoxic inhibitor of P-glycoprotein-mediated drug efflux in multidrug-resistant human colon cancer cells.
Analytical scale chemical/cultivation profiling prioritized the Australian marine-derived fungus Aspergillus noonimiae CMB-M0339. Subsequent investigation permitted isolation of noonindoles A–F ...(5–10) and detection of eight minor analogues (i–viii) as new examples of a rare class of indole diterpene (IDT) amino acid conjugate, indicative of an acyl amino acid transferase capable of incorporating a diverse range of amino acid residues. Structures for 5–10 were assigned by detailed spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic analysis. The metabolites 5–14 exhibited no antibacterial properties against G-ve and G+ve bacteria or the fungus Candida albicans, with the exception of 5 which exhibited moderate antifungal activity.
A rice cultivation of a fish gastrointestinal tract-derived fungus, Trichoderma sp. CMB-F563, yielded natural products incorporating a rare hydrazine moiety, embedded within a Schiff base. Structures ...inclusive of absolute configurations were assigned to prolinimines A–D (1–4) on the basis of detailed spectroscopic and C3 Marfey’s analysis, as well as biosynthetic considerations, biomimetic total synthesis, and chemical transformations. Of note, monomeric 1 proved to be acid labile and, during isolation, underwent quantitative transformation to dimeric 3 and trimeric 4. Prolinimines are only the second reported natural products incorporating an N-amino-Pro residue, the first to include l-Pro, the first to occur as Schiff bases, and the first to be isolated from a microorganism.
A miniaturized 24-well plate microbioreactor approach was used to explore secondary metabolite media dependence in an Australian marine tunicate-associated fungus, Talaromyces sp. (CMB TU011). ...Detailed chemical investigations of an antifungal M1-saline cultivation yielded talarolide A (1), only the second reported natural cyclic peptide hydroxamate, and the first from a fungus. The antifungal properties of the M1-saline extract were attributed to the known diterpene glycoside sordarin (2). Structure elucidation of 1 and 2 was achieved by detailed spectroscopic analysis, with amino acid configurations in 1 assigned by the C3 and C18 Marfey’s methods, and l-Ala and d-Ala regiochemistry by the recently reported 2D C3 Marfey’s method.
Chemical analysis of an M1 agar plate cultivation of a marine fish-gut-derived fungus,
sp. CMB-F214, revealed the known chrysosporazines A-D (
-
) in addition to a suite of very minor
analogues
-
. A ...microbioreactor (MATRIX) cultivation profiling analysis failed to deliver cultivation conditions that significantly improved the yields of
-
; however, it did reveal that M2 agar cultivation produced the new natural product
. A precursor-directed biosynthesis strategy adopting supplementation of a CMB-F214 M1 solid agar culture with sodium nicotinate enhanced production of otherwise inaccessible azachrysposorazines A1 (
), A2 (
), B1 (
), C1 (
), C2 (
) and D1 (
), in addition to four new chrysosporazines; chrysosporazines N-P (
-
) and spirochrysosporazine A (
). Structures inclusive of absolute configurations were assigned to
-
based on detailed spectroscopic and chemical analyses, and biosynthetic considerations. Non-cytotoxic to human carcinoma cells, azachrysosporazies
-
were capable of reversing doxorubicin resistance in P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-overexpressing human colon carcinoma cells (SW620 Ad300), with optimum activity exhibited by the C-2' substituted analogues
-
.
We report on the use of nitric oxide-mediated transcriptional activation (NOMETA) as an innovative means to detect and access new classes of microbial natural products encoded within silent ...biosynthetic gene clusters. A small library of termite nest- and mangrove-derived fungi and actinomyces was subjected to cultivation profiling using a miniaturized 24-well format approach (MATRIX) in the presence and absence of nitric oxide, with the resulting metabolomes subjected to comparative chemical analysis using UPLC-DAD and GNPS molecular networking. This strategy prompted study of Talaromyces sp. CMB-TN6F and Coccidiodes sp. CMB-TN39F, leading to discovery of the triterpene glycoside pullenvalenes A–D (1–4), featuring an unprecedented triterpene carbon skeleton and rare 6-O-methyl-N-acetyl-d-glucosaminyl glycoside residues. Structure elucidation of 1–4 was achieved by a combination of detailed spectroscopic analysis, chemical degradation, derivatization and synthesis, and biosynthetic considerations.
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Peptide-based vaccines have the potential to overcome the limitations of classical vaccines; however, their use is hampered by a lack of carriers and adjuvants suitable for human use. ...In this study, an efficient self-adjuvanting peptide vaccine delivery system was developed based on the ionic interactions between cationic trimethyl chitosan (TMC) and a peptide antigen coupled with synthetically defined anionic α-poly-(l-glutamic acid) (PGA). The antigen, possessing a conserved B-cell epitope derived from the group A streptococcus (GAS) pathogen and a universal T-helper epitope, was conjugated to PGA using cycloaddition reaction. The produced anionic conjugate formed nanoparticles (NP-1) through interaction with cationic TMC. These NP-1 induced higher systemic and mucosal antibody titers compared to antigen adjuvanted with standard mucosal adjuvant cholera toxin B subunit or antigen mixed with TMC. The produced serum antibodies were also opsonic against clinically isolated GAS strains. Further, a reduction in bacterial burden was observed in nasal secretions, pharyngeal surface and nasopharyngeal-associated lymphoid tissue of mice immunized with NP-1 in GAS challenge studies. Thus, conjugation of defined-length anionic polymer to peptide antigen as a means of formulating ionic interaction-based nanoparticles with cationic polymer is a promising strategy for peptide antigen delivery.
A self-adjuvanting delivery system is required for peptide vaccines to enhance antigen delivery to immune cells and generate systemic and mucosal immunity. Herein, we developed a novel self-adjuvanting nanoparticulate delivery system for peptide antigens by combining polymer-conjugation and complexation strategies. We conjugated peptide antigen with anionic α-poly-(l-glutamic acid) that in turn, formed nanoparticles with cationic trimethyl chitosan by ionic interactions, without using external crosslinker. On intranasal administration to mice, these nanoparticles induced systemic and mucosal immunity, at low dose. Additionally, nanoparticles provided protection to vaccinated mice against group A streptococcus infection. Thus, this concept should be particularly useful in developing nanoparticles for the delivery of peptide antigens.
Upregulation of ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter efflux pumps (
P-glycoprotein, P-gp) can impart multidrug resistance, rendering many chemotherapeutics ineffective and seriously limiting ...treatment regimes. While ABC transporters remain an attractive target for therapeutic intervention, the development of clinically useful small-molecule inhibitors has proved challenging. In this report, we describe the structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis of a newly discovered P-gp inhibitory pharmacophore, phenylpropanoid piperazine chrysosporazines, produced by co-isolated marine-derived fungi. In the absence of any total syntheses, we apply an innovative precursor-directed biosynthesis strategy that successfully repurposed fungal biosynthetic output, allowing us to isolate, characterize, and identify the structurally diverse neochrysosporazines A-Q. SAR analysis utilizing all known (and new) neochrysosporazines, chrysosporazines, and azachrysosporazines, plus semi-synthetic analogues, established the key structure requirements for the P-gp inhibitory pharmacophore, and, in addition, identified non-essential sites that allow for the design of affinity and other conjugated probes.
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