Fully substituted unsaturated lactones from endophytic Myrothecium sp

Area of Science:

• Natural Product Chemistry
• Mycology
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Fungi are a rich source of bioactive natural products.
• Myrothecium species are known to produce diverse secondary metabolites.
• Vatica mangachapoi is a plant species with potential medicinal properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To isolate and characterize new compounds from Myrothecium sp. IFB-E106.
• To determine the absolute configurations of the novel compounds.
• To evaluate the neuraminidase inhibitory activity of the isolated compounds.

Main Methods:

• Isolation and purification of compounds from fungal culture broth.
• Structure elucidation using spectroscopic techniques (e.g., NMR, MS).
• Determination of absolute configuration via computational electronic circular dichroism (ECD).
• Enzymatic assay to measure neuraminidase inhibitory activity.

Main Results:

• Two new α,β-unsaturated γ-lactones, myrolactones A (1) and B (2), were identified.
• The absolute configurations of myrolactones A and B were successfully determined.
• Myrolactone B exhibited neuraminidase inhibitory activity with an IC(50) value of 13.95 μM.

Conclusions:

• Myrothecium sp. IFB-E106 produces novel lactone compounds.
• Myrolactone B is a potential inhibitor of neuraminidase.
• Further investigation into myrolactone B's mechanism of action and therapeutic potential is warranted.