Ya-jing Wanga,
Nan Maa,
Chun-yue Liua,
Yi-xuan Fenga,
Feng-xiang Zhangc,
Chang Li
*a and
Yue-hu Pei*ab
aDepartment of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Medicine Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, HarBin Medical University, HarBin 150081, People's Republic of China. E-mail: lichang661@126.com; peiyueh@vip.163.com
bShenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, People's Republic of China
cThe First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, GuangZhou 510632, People's Republic of China
First published on 14th January 2021
Two new xanthones, oxisterigmatocystins J and K (1–2), and two new anthraquinones, versicolorins D and E (3–4), were isolated from solid cultures of the fungus Penicillium sp. DWS10-P-6, together with twelve known compounds (5–16). Their structures, including their absolute configurations, were characterized on the basis of extensive 1D NMR, 2D NMR, MS and CD spectral data. The cytotoxic activities of compounds 1–12 against HL-60, MDA-MB-231 and PC-3 cells were also evaluated. Compounds 4 and 5 showed significant cytotoxic activity against the HL-60 cell line with IC50 values of 1.65 μM and 1.05 μM, respectively.
During our continuing search for new bioactive secondary metabolites from soil fungi, Penicillium sp. DWS10-P-6 was obtained from a sample collected in soil from Yunnan Province, China. Our further study of this fungus resulted in the isolation of two new xanthones (1–2) and two new anthraquinones (3–4), together with twelve known compounds. The known compounds were identified as oxisterigmatocystin C (5),8 demethylsterigmatocystin (6),9 sterigmatocystin (7),10 versiconal acetate (8),11 versicolorin B (9),12 nidurufin (10),13 8-O-methylaverufin (11),14 averythrin (12),15 3,7-dihydroxy-1,9-dimethyldibenzofuran (13),16 3,3′-O-dimethylviolaceol-I (14),17 diorcinol (15)17 and alternariol (16).18 Compounds 1, 2 and 6 were 1′S, 2′R, 4′S; 1′S, 2′S, 4′S; and 1′S, 2′S, 4′R stereoisomers with different configurations, respectively. Notably, compound 1 is the first example of this kind of xanthones with 1′S, 2′R, 4′S configuration. To the best of our knowledge, this is also the first time that compound 5 has been isolated from natural resources. From a biogenetic point of view, compounds 3–4 and 8–12 should be derived from norsolorinic acid by Baeyer–Villiger oxidation, rearrangement, methylation, etc. The new natural xanthones and anthraquinones identified in this research expanded the chemical space and biological diversity of polyketides. Details of the isolation, structural elucidation and biological evaluation of these metabolites are reported herein.
Oxisterigmatocystin J (1) was obtained as yellow needle-like crystals. It had the molecular formula of C19H16O7, as determined by HRESIMS at m/z 357.0970 [M + H]+ (calcd for C19H17O7, 357.0896). The IR spectrum showed an absorption band at 3432 cm−1 for a hydroxyl group. The 1H-NMR spectroscopic data were closely related to that of oxisterigmatocystin C (5)8 (Table 1). The spectrum showed signals for one chelated phenolic proton, three protons of a 1,2,3-trisubstituted benzene ring, one singlet aromatic proton, two vicinal methine protons, and two methoxy groups. Correlations from H-5 (δH 6.87) to C-10 (δC 155.1), from H-5 (δH 6.87) and H-7 (δH 6.76) to C-11 (δC 109.2), and from H-2 (δH 6.30) to C-1 (δC 161.6), C-3 (δC 162.3) and C-4 (δC 104.8) in the HMBC spectrum revealed the xanthone moiety. The presence of a methoxyl group [δH 3.96 (3H, s), δC 56.7] at C-1 was indicated by an HMBC correlation between the methoxyl protons and the corresponding carbon. The NOESY correlation between the methoxyl protons and H-2 also supported the position of the methoxyl group at C-1 of the xanthone unit (Fig. 2). The bishydrofuran component was established based on the HMBC correlations from H-4′ (δH 5.14) to C-1′ (δC 100.1)/C-2′ (δC 34.8)/C-3′ (δC 29.5), from H-2′ (δH 3.84) to C-3′ (δC 29.5) and from H-3′ (δH 2.57, 2.07) to C-4′ (δC 111.1). The attachment of the bishydrofuran component to C-3 and C-4 of the xanthone unit was confirmed by the correlation between H-2′ (δH 3.84) and C-4′ (δC 111.1) in the HMBC spectrum. Further HMBC correlations from the methoxyl group [δH 3.43 (3H, s), δC 55.5] to C-4′ (δC 111.1) established the planar structure of 1.
No. | Compound 1a | Compound 2a | No. | Compound 3b | Compound 4b | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
δH | δC | δH | δC | δH | δC | δH | δC | ||
a Measured in CDCl3 at 400 MHz for 1H NMR and 100 MHz for 13C NMR.b Measured in DMSO-d6 at 400 MHz for 1H NMR and 100 MHz for 13C NMR. Proton coupling constants (J) in Hz are given in parentheses. The assignments were based on 1H–1H COSY, HSQC, and HMBC experiments. | |||||||||
1 | 161.6 | 163.7 | 1 | 159.1 | 159.5 | ||||
2 | 6.30 (1H, s) | 95.9 | 6.38 (1H, s) | 90.6 | 2 | 121.2 | 120.6 | ||
3 | 162.3 | 165.1 | 3 | 164.1 | 164.2 | ||||
4 | 104.8 | 107.1 | 4 | 7.09 (1H, s) | 102.5 | 7.11 (1H, s) | 102.5 | ||
5 | 6.87 (1H, d, 8.2) | 106.2 | 6.81 (1H, dd, 8.2, 0.7) | 106.9 | 5 | 7.06 (1H, d, 2.4) | 109.1 | 7.11 (1H, d, 2.4) | 109.0 |
6 | 7.51 (1H, t, 8.2) | 135.9 | 7.50 (1H, t, 8.2) | 135.8 | 6 | 165.5 | 165.4 | ||
7 | 6.76 (1H, d, 8.2) | 111.2 | 6.75 (1H, dd, 8.2, 0.7) | 111.4 | 7 | 6.54 (1H, d, 2.4) | 108.0 | 6.58 (1H, d, 2.4) | 108.0 |
8 | 158.5 | 162.5 | 8 | 164.3 | 163.7 | ||||
9 | 181.8 | 181.6 | 9 | 189.2 | 189.2 | ||||
10 | 155.1 | 155.1 | 10 | 181.9 | 180.9 | ||||
11 | 109.2 | 109.1 | 4a | 135.6 | 135.5 | ||||
12 | 105.7 | 106.0 | 8a | 108.4 | 108.4 | ||||
13 | 154.6 | 154.6 | 9a | 111.1 | 111.0 | ||||
1-OMe | 3.96 (3H, s) | 56.7 | 3.99 (3H, s) | 56.9 | 10a | 134.5 | 134.8 | ||
1′ | 5.94 (1H, d, 3.3) | 100.1 | 6.49 (1H, d, 5.9) | 112.0 | 1′ | 5.74 (1H, d, 1.6) | 113.4 | 5.87 (1H, d, 6.6) | 108.8 |
2′ | 3.84 (1H, d, 3.9) | 34.8 | 4.26 (1H, dt, 5.5, 7.8) | 42.8 | 2′ | 3.36 (1H, m) | 43.4 | 3.75 (1H, m) | 40.8 |
3′ | 2.57 (1H, dt, 11.7, 3.8) | 29.5 | 2.41 (2H, d, 7.8) | 36.6 | 3′ | 1.90 (1H, m) | 28.6 | 2.03 (1H, m) | 24.1 |
2.07 (1H, d, 11.7) | 2.13 (1H, m) | 2.48 (1H, m) | |||||||
4′ | 5.14 (1H, s) | 111.1 | 5.21 (1H, t, 5.0) | 106.1 | 4′ | 4.11 (2H, m) | 61.6 | 4.08 (1H, m) | 62.7 |
4.17 (1H, m) | |||||||||
4′-OMe | 3.43 (3H, s) | 55.5 | 3.49 (3H, s) | 56.9 | 5′ | 170.3 | 170.4 | ||
6′ | 2.03 (3H, s) | 21.6 | 2.03 (3H, s) | 20.7 | |||||
1′-OMe | 3.48 (3H, s) | 56.0 | 3.53 (3H, s) | 56.8 |
The NOESY spectrum gave diagnostic correlation of H-2′ with H-4′, which illustrated that H-2′ and H-4′ were oriented in the same direction, and analyses of the coupling constants placed H-1′ on the opposite side of the ring. The relative configuration of C-1′, C-2′ and C-4′ in 1 indicated that there were only two possible structures, with the absolute configuration of (1′S, 2′R, 4′S) or (1′R, 2′S, 4′R). The absolute configuration of 1 were established by theoretical calculations of its ECD (ESI†). The calculated ECD spectrum of (1′S, 2′R, 4′S)-1 agreed well with the measured spectrum. Therefore, the absolute configurations at C-1′, C-2′ and C-4′ of 1 were determined to be 1′S, 2′R, and 4′S (Fig. 3).
Oxisterigmatocystin K (2) was obtained as needle-like crystals; [α]20D −88.01 (c 0.10, MeOH). It had the molecular formula of C19H16O7, as determined by HRESIMS at m/z 357.0970 [M + H]+ (calcd for C19H17O7, 357.0896), which was identical to that of 1. Analysis of the NMR data of 2 (Table 1 and Fig. 2) led to the conclusion that 2 was an epimeric isomer of 1 and was assigned the same gross structure as 1. The NOESY spectrum gave diagnostic correlations of H-1′ (δH 6.49) with H-2′ (δH 4.26), and the lack of a NOE signal between H-1′ (δH 6.49) and H-4′ (δH 5.21) in 2 revealed that 2 is an epimer of 1 with a different chiral ketal carbon at C-2. Therefore, the absolute configuration of 2 was limited to two enantiomers of (1′S, 2′S, 4′S)-2 or (1′R, 2′R, 4′R)-2 based on the above established relative configuration and was determined by the calculated ECD spectra to be 1′S, 2′S, 4′S (Fig. 3).
Versicolorin D (3) was obtained as a red solid. Its molecular formula was determined to be C21H18O9, as determined by HRESIMS at m/z 437.0808 [M + Na]+ (calcd for C21H18O9Na, 437.0849). 1D and 2D NMR spectra (Table 1) analysis furnished compound 3 with the addition of a methoxyl group and the loss of a hydroxyl group as compared with versiconal acetate (8).11 The 1H NMR spectrum exhibited the resonances of three aromatic protons for an AB meta-coupling system and an aromatic singlet, together with two methylene groups, two methine groups, and three methyl groups. The 13C NMR spectrum provided a total of 21 carbon resonances, including 14 aromatic carbons for two phenyl rings and three ketone carbons. Analyses of the 2D NMR data (COSY, HMQC and HMBC) (Fig. 2) resulted in the assignment of a 3-substituted 2,4,5,7-tetrahydroxyanthraquinone nucleus. This assignment was supported by the presence of meta-coupling protons δH 7.06 (1H, d, J = 2.4 Hz, H-5) and 6.54 (1H, d, J = 2.4 Hz, H-7) of ring A and an aromatic singlet at δH 7.09 (1H, s, H-4) of ring B, and the HMBC interactions from H-4 (δH 7.09) to C-2 (δC 121.2), C-3 (δC 164.1), C-4a (δC 135.6) and C-10 (δC 181.9), from H-5 (δH 7.06) to C-10 (δC 181.9) and C-6 (δC 165.5), from H-7 (δH 6.54) to C-6 (δC 165.5) and C-8 (δC 164.3). The HMBC spectrum corroborated the presence of the bishydrofuran moiety based on correlations from H-1′ (δH 5.74) to the aromatic carbons C-2 (δC 121.2) and C-3 (δC 164.1) and the methylene carbon C-2′ (δC 43.4). Further HMBC correlations (Fig. 2) from H2-3′ (δH 2.13, 1.90) to C-2 (δC 121.2), C-2′ (δC 43.4), C-1′ (δC 113.4) and C-4′ (δC 61.6), from H-4′ (δH 4.11) to C-5′ (δC 170.3), and from H-6′ (δH 2.03) to C-5′ (δC 170.3) established the planar structure of 3. NOE correlations between H-1′ and H2-3′ were observed, suggesting that H-1′ and H2-3′ of 3 should be on the same side of the ring system, while H-2′ should be on the other side. Finally, the absolute configuration of 3 was verified by comparing the experimental CD spectra (Fig. 3) with the predicted CD spectra. Therefore, compound 3 was determined to be 1′S, 2′S configuration.
Versicolorin E (4) was obtained as a red solid. Its positive HRESIMS afforded an [M + Na]+ ion peak at m/z 437.0824 (calcd for C21H18O9Na, 437.0849), indicating the molecular formula of C21H18O9. The NMR data (Table 1) of 4 showed that it was an epimeric isomer of 3. The characteristic doublet with J = 6.6 Hz of H-1′ (δH 5.87) and H-2′ (δH 3.75) of 4 suggested that H-1′ and H-2′ should be on the same side of the dihydrofuron ring, which revealed that 4 was an epimer of 3 with a different chiral ketal carbon at C-2′ (δC 40.8). The absolute configurations of 4 were established by theoretical calculations of its ECD (Fig. 3). The calculated ECD spectrum of (1′S, 2′R)-4 agreed well with the measured spectrum. Therefore, the absolute configurations at C-1′ and C-2′ of 4 were determined to be 1′S, 2′R (Fig. 3).
In addition, the known compounds 5–16 were identified as oxisterigmatocystin C (5), demethylsterigmatocystin (6), sterigmatocystin (7), versiconal acetate (8), versicolorin B (9), nidurufin (10), 8-O-methylaverufin (11), averythrin (12), 3,7-dihydroxy-1,9-dimethyldibenzofuran (13), 3,3′-O-dimethylviolaceol-I (14), diorcinol (15) and alternariol (16) by comparing their measured spectroscopic data with those reported in the literature (ESI†).
From a biogenetic point of view, compounds 3–4 and 8–12 should be derived from norsolorinic acid, which was synthesized from hexanoyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA by a Claisen reaction. Then norsolorinic acid was cyclized to the intermediate, which was further converted into 3–4, 8–12 by Baeyer–Villiger oxidation, rearrangement and methylation, etc.19–21 12 was obtained from norsolorinic acid through reduction and dehydration (Fig. 4).
Compounds | HL-60 | PC-3 | MDA-MB-231 |
---|---|---|---|
IC50 (μM) | IC50 (μM) | IC50 (μM) | |
1 | 15.14 | >50 | >50 |
2 | 12.06 | 31.72 | 21.62 |
3 | 13.38 | >50 | >50 |
4 | 1.65 | 37.27 | 29.85 |
5 | 1.05 | 35.93 | 34.89 |
6 | 4.06 | — | >50 |
7 | 14.75 | — | >50 |
8 | 16.26 | — | >50 |
9 | 20.86 | >50 | >50 |
10 | 19.97 | 41.52 | 38.14 |
11 | 24.88 | >50 | >50 |
12 | 15.96 | >50 | >50 |
5-Fluorouracil | 9.93 | 14.77 |
The EtOAc crude extracts (50.0 g) were applied to a silica gel column and eluted with a petroleum–acetone gradient (from 100:
0 to 0
:
100) to afford 9 fractions. Fraction 2 (Fr. 2, 2 g) recrystalized with methanol to yield compound 6 (50 mg); Fr. 3 (3 g) recrystalized with methanol to yield compound 7 (60 mg); Fr. 4 (5 g) recrystalized with methanol to yield compound 9 (1 g); Fr. 6 (15 g) recrystalized with methanol to yield compound 8 (5 mg). Fr. 6 was then purified using silica gel column chromatography, eluting with petroleum–ethyl acetate (from 100
:
0 to 0
:
100), to give 5 subfractions. Fr. 6-1 was further subjected to MPLC on ODS with MeOH–H2O (20
:
80, 40
:
60, 60
:
40, 80
:
20 and 100
:
0, v/v) to afford 4 fractions. Fr. 6-1-4 was applied to a silica gel column and eluted with a petroleum–acetone gradient (from 100
:
0 to 0
:
100) to afford 9 fractions. Fr. 6-1-4-1 was further purified by semipreparative MPLC on an ODS column eluted with 59% CH3CN–H2O to yield compound 1 (10 mg), compound 2 (8 mg), compound 5 (10 mg), compound 10 (10 mg), compound 13 (4 mg), compound 14 (5 mg), and compound 16 (10 mg). Fr. 6-1-4-3 was further purified by semipreparative MPLC on an ODS column eluted with 66% CH3CN–H2O to yield compound 15 (6 mg). Fr. 6-1-4-4 was further purified by semipreparative MPLC on an ODS column eluted with 59% CH3CN–H2O to yield compound 3 (9 mg), compound 4 (10 mg), and compound 11 (5 mg). Fr. 6-1-4-8 was further purified by semipreparative MPLC on an ODS column eluted with 87% CH3CN–H2O to yield compound 12 (7 mg).
Compound 1, yellow needle-like crystals; [α]20D −74.21 (c 0.11, MeOH); 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) and 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3) see Table 1; HRESIMS m/z 357.0970 [M + H]+ (calcd for C19H17O7, 357.0896).
Compound 2, yellow needle-like crystals; [α]20D −88.01 (c 0.10, MeOH); 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) and 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3) see Table 1; HRESIMS m/z 357.0965 [M + H]+ (calcd for C19H17O7, 357.0896).
Compound 3, red solid; [α]20D −1.05 (c 0.12, MeOH); 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d6) and 13C NMR (100 MHz, DMSO-d6) see Table 1; HRESIMS m/z 437.0808 [M + Na]+ (calcd for C21H18O9Na, 437.0849).
Compound 4, red solid; [α]20D −46.89 (c 0.11, MeOH); 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d6) and 13C NMR (100 MHz, DMSO-d6) see Table 1; HRESIMS m/z 437.0824 [M + Na]+ (calcd for C21H18O9Na, 437.0849).
The cell lines were cultured in the above medium at a density of 5 × 104 cells per mL at 37 °C under an atmosphere of 5% CO2. Cell growth inhibition assays were performed as reported previously. The compounds were dissolved in DMSO, and the amount of DMSO was controlled to be lower than 0.1% in the final concentration. Cells were incubated with various drug concentrations for 3 days. The number of cells was determined by a hemocytometer, and cell viability was determined using trypan blue staining. The growth inhibitory ability of the compound was calculated and expressed using the IC50 value (half-inhibitory concentration). 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) and 0.1% DMSO were used as a positive control and a negative control, respectively.
Briefly, in the MTT assay, cell suspensions of 200 μL, at a density of 2.5 × 104 cells per mL, were plated in 96-well microtiter plates and incubated for 24 h at 37 °C under 5% CO2 and 95% air. Then, the test compounds with different concentrations in DMSO were placed into each microtiter plate and further incubated for 72 h. Finally, 50 μL of a 0.4% MTT solution was added to each well and incubated for 4 h. Then, the MTT was removed from the wells, and the fromazan crystals were dissolved in DMSO (200 μL) for 10 min with shaking. Then, the plate was read immediately on a microtiter plate reader (Bio-Rad) at a wavelength of 570 nm to record the optical density (OD). The IC50 value was defined as the concentration of the control in the MTT assay. 5-Fluorouracil (5-Fu) was used as a positive control.
Footnote |
† Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/d0ra08141h |
This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2021 |