Nonpeptide small molecules from the insect Aspongopus chinensis and their neural stem cell proliferation stimulating properties

Abstract

Four pairs of enantiomeric hypoxanthine analogues (1, 2, 5 and 6), two pairs of enantiomeric adenine analogues (3 and 4), two pyrazines, aspongpyrazines A (7) and B (8), and a pair of glycerides ((+)-9 and (−)-9), along with twenty-eight known substances were isolated from the insect Aspongopus chinensis. The structures of the new natural products were assigned by using spectroscopic and computational methods. Chiral HPLC was used to separate the (−)- and (+)-antipodes of 1–6, and 9. Several of the new, A. chinensis derived natural products were found to promote proliferation of neural stem cells (NSCs) at a concentration of 10 μM.