Reactive oxygen species altering the metabolite profile of the marine-derived fungus Dichotomomyces cejpii F31-1.

To investigate the influence of reactive oxygen species (ROS) on the secondary metabolites of the marine-derived fungus Dichotomomyces cejpii F31-1, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was added to the GPY culture medium. The HPLC chromatogram of the EtOAc extract of the culture broth was distinct from that of the H2O2 free GPY medium. Further study of the metabolites in the GPY medium with H2O2 resulted in the discovery of eight known compounds. Among them, (22E)-5α, 8α-epidioxyergosta-6, 22-dien-3ß-ol (2) and ergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraene-3-one (3) were present in the highest concentration, while ergosterol and diketopiperazines are abundant in the H2O2 free medium. Additionally, a new compound, dichocetide D (1) containing a chlorine element and a known ergosterol (10) were isolated from the H2O2 free medium. (22E)-5α, 8α-epidioxyergosta-6, 22-dien-3ß-ol (2) exhibited moderate cytotoxic activity against human prostate cancer cell line LNCaP-C4-2B.

Potential Antidiabetic Fumiquinazoline Alkaloids from the Marine-Derived Fungus Scedosporium apiospermum F41-1.

Fumiquinazoline alkaloids have attracted much attention from medicinal and natural product chemists due to their interesting structures and biological potential. In this study, three new and 12 known fumiquinazoline alkaloids were isolated and characterized from the marine fungus Scedosporium apiospermum F41-1. The structures of the new compounds and their absolute configurations were determined using NMR spectroscopy, ECD, and OR calculations. The compounds were evaluated for their antidiabetic potential by determining their triglyceride-promoting activity using 3T3-L1 adipocytes. One of the new compounds, scequinadoline J (14), as well as scequinadolines D (9) and E (10), was found to promote triglyceride accumulation in 3T3-L1 cells. Scequinadoline D (9) demonstrated the most potent activity, with an EC50 value of 0.27 ± 0.03 µM. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction experiments suggested that scequinadoline D (9) acts through activation of the PPARγ pathway. It stimulated the mRNA expression of PPARγ, AMPKα, C/EBPα, LXRα, SCD-1, and FABP4. In addition, its triglyceride-promoting efficacy could be blocked by a double dose of the PPARγ antagonist GW9662. These results indicated that scequinadoline D (9) is a potent insulin sensitizer that targets adipocytes and may be useful for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus after further investigation.

Polyketides and Alkaloids from the Marine-Derived Fungus Dichotomomyces cejpii F31-1 and the Antiviral Activity of Scequinadoline A against Dengue Virus.

In our continuous chemical investigation on the marine-derived fungus Dichotomomyces cejpii F31-1, two new polyketides dichocetides B-C (1, 2), two new alkaloids dichotomocejs E-F (3, 4), and three known fumiquinozalines: scequinadoline A (5), quinadoline A (6), and scequinadoline E (7) were discovered from the culture broth and the mycelium in the culture medium, by the addition of l-tryptophan and l-phenylalanine. Their chemical structures were established by one dimensional (1D), two dimensional (2D) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS) data. Among them, scequinadoline A (5) exhibited significant inhibitory activity against dengue virus serotype 2 production by standard plaque assay, equivalent to the positive control andrographlide. Scequinadoline A (5) possesses the potential for further development as a dengue virus inhibitor.

Ab initio MRCI+Q calculations on the low-lying excited states of the MgBr radical including spin-orbit coupling.

Accurate theoretical calculations on the MgBr radical have been carried out by using the high-level relativistic multireference configuration interaction method with Davidson correction (MRCI+Q) using correlation-consistent Quintuple-ζ quality basis set. The potential energy curves (PECs) of the 14 Λ-S states of MgBr have been computed. In order to improve the PECs, the core-valence correlation, scalar relativistic effect, and spin-orbit coupling effect are taken into account in the computations. The spectroscopic constants of the bound states have been determined from the computed PECs. The results of the ground state X(2)Σ(+) and the first excited state A(2)Π are in good agreement with those from the available experiments, while spectroscopic constants of the other electronic states are firstly reported. The low-lying ion-pair state B(2)Σ(+) correlated to ion-pair dissociation limit Mg(+) ((2)Sg)+Br(-) ((1)Sg) is characterized. The permanent dipole moments (PDMs) of Λ-S states and the R-dependent spin-orbit (SO) matrix elements are computed. The results indicate that the abrupt changes of PDMs and the SO matrix elements are attributed to the changes of the electronic configurations near the avoided crossing point. After taking the SOC effect into account, the 14 Λ-S states split into 30Ω states, and the SOC splitting for the A(2)Π is calculated to be 102.58cm(-1). The SOC effect, leading to the double-well potential of the Ω=(3)1/2 state, is found to be substantial for MgBr. In order to further illustrate the SOC effect and the avoided crossing phenomenon of the PECs, the Λ-S compositions in the Ω state wavefunctions are analyzed in detail. Finally, the transition dipole moments (TDMs) of several transitions from upper Ω states to the ground X(2)Σ(+)1/2 state and the corresponding radiative lifetimes have been studied. It is shown that the (1)3/2-X(2)Σ(+)1/2 and (2)3/2-X(2)Σ(+)1/2 are particularly important to the observed transitions A(2)Π-X(2)Σ(+) and C(2)Π-X(2)Σ(+). The present study should shed more light on the electronic structures and transition properties of electronic states of the MgBr radical.

Ab initio calculations on potential energy curves and radiative lifetimes for the band systems A(2)Π-X(2)Σ(+) of magnesium monohalides MgX (X=F, Cl, Br, I).

Ab initio calculations on potential energy curves (PECs), spectroscopic constants, transition dipole moments, radiative transition probabilities and lifetimes for the ground state (X(2)Σ(+)) and the first excited state (A(2)Π) of MgX (X=F, Cl, Br, I) molecules are determined by high-level internally contracted multi-reference configuration interaction (ic-MRCI) method. In order to improve the calculation, the Davidson modification (+Q) and scalar relativistic correction are included. The present results show that most of spectroscopic constants are in accordance with the measurements, the equilibrium internuclear distance Re increases while the other spectroscopic constants reduce along with the increasing of the atomic number of the halogen from F to I. Diagonal vibrational transitions are found to be dominant for the A(2)Π→X(2)Σ(+) system of MgX molecules. The corresponding radiative lifetimes of ν'=0 are computed to be 7.24, 9.98, 18.94 and 22.72 ns for MgF, MgCl, MgBr, and MgI, respectively. The calculated result of MgF molecule is in good agreement with the recent theoretical result of 7.16 ns, with a small relative error percent of 1.11%.