Cytotoxic Compounds from Marine Fungi: Sources, Structures, and Bioactivity

Area of Science:

• Marine biology
• Natural product chemistry
• Mycology

Background:

• Marine fungi, including Penicillium and Aspergillus species, are rich sources of natural products.
• These fungi are isolated from diverse marine environments like sponges, corals, algae, mangroves, sediment, and seawater.
• Natural products from marine fungi exhibit significant cytotoxic properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review novel natural products isolated from marine fungi between 1991 and 2023.
• To elucidate the chemical structures, isolation sources, and antitumor activities of these compounds.
• To categorize the identified cytotoxic compounds.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature search for marine fungi natural products.
• Identification and characterization of fungal strains and their metabolites.
• Analysis of cytotoxic properties, including IC50 values.

Main Results:

• A total of 642 novel natural products were identified from marine fungi.
• Polyketides represent the largest class (307 compounds).
• Twenty-three compounds demonstrated high cytotoxic potency (nanomolar/nanogram per milliliter levels).

Conclusions:

• Marine fungi are a valuable source of diverse cytotoxic natural products.
• Polyketides are a dominant class with significant antitumor potential.
• Further research into marine fungal metabolites could yield novel therapeutic agents.