Sesquiterpenes from an Endophytic Aspergillus flavus

Area of Science:

• Natural Product Chemistry
• Mycology
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Endophytic fungi, such as Aspergillus flavus, are a source of novel bioactive compounds.
• Tylophora ovata is a medicinal plant known for its toxic properties, suggesting potential for unique secondary metabolites in its associated endophytes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To isolate and characterize new sesquiterpenes from the endophytic fungus Aspergillus flavus.
• To evaluate the biological activities of the isolated compounds, focusing on hepatic protection and anticancer effects.

Main Methods:

• Isolation of compounds using chromatographic techniques.
• Structure elucidation through comprehensive spectroscopic data analysis (NMR, MS).
• Determination of absolute configurations using specific rotation and electronic circular dichroism (ECD).
• In vitro assays to assess hepatic protection and cytotoxicity against MCF-7 breast cancer cells.

Main Results:

• Eight new cadinene-sesquiterpenes (1-8), one eudesmane-sesquiterpene (9), and three known compounds (10-13) were identified.
• Compounds 4-8, 11, and 12 demonstrated latent hepatic protection effects at 10 μM.
• Compound 12 selectively inhibited MCF-7 breast cancer cell proliferation with an IC50 of 2.6 μM.

Conclusions:

• The endophytic fungus Aspergillus flavus from Tylophora ovata produces a diverse range of sesquiterpenes.
• Several isolated sesquiterpenes possess promising hepatic protective and anticancer properties, warranting further investigation.