Identification, Structure-Activity Relationships of Marine-Derived Indolocarbazoles, and a Dual PKCθ/δ Inhibitor with Potent Antipancreatic Cancer Efficacy.

Protein kinases C (PKCs) are a family of serine/threonine kinases involved in various cellular processes, including proliferation, differentiation, cell survival, and apoptosis. Here, we report the identification, structure-activity relationship (SAR), and 3D-QSAR studies of 69 natural indolocarbazoles, including 15 new compounds, from marine streptomyces strains. Interestingly, we found that the chair conformational isomer of 7-oxo-staurosporine (compound 15) inhibited PKCθ more potently than the corresponding boat isomer. An evaluation of kinase selectivity and antitumor efficacy revealed that 15 was a potent dual PKCθ/δ inhibitor and that it could efficiently inhibit tumor growth in pancreatic cancer (PC) by inducing cellular apoptosis and suppressing the NF-κB/p-P65 pathway. In addition, we demonstrated that overexpression of p-PKCδ and p-P65 was associated with poor survival rates in patients with PC, and p-PKCθ expression also showed significant positive correlations with p-PKCδ and p-P65 levels. Finally, the PC patient-derived xenograft model further confirmed the potential anti-PC efficacy of 15.

Angucycline antibiotics and its derivatives from marine-derived actinomycete Streptomyces sp. A6H.

Vineomycin A1 (1) and B2 (2) were isolated from the culture broth of marine actinomycete Streptomyces sp. A6H. Five hydrolysis products were obtained by rational hydrolysis and methanolysis of the fermentation extract. Their structures were characterised as aquayamycin (3), vineomycinone B2 (4), 9-C-D-olivosyltetrangulol (5), 7-O-methylgaltamycinone (6) and vineomycinone B2 methyl ester (7). In addition to these compounds, two ester derivatives, vineolactone A (8) and vineomycinone B2 benzyl ester (9) of compound 4 were generated semisynthetically. Compound 6 is a new analogue of galtamycinone, while compounds 8 and 9 are new members of vineomycins. Cytotoxic activities and antimicrobial activities were determined for all compounds. The results indicate that only compound 1 showed significant activities with IC50 value of 0.34 µM against H1975 and MIC value of 4 µg/mL against Staphylococcus aureus.

New analogues of brefeldin A from sediment-derived fungus Penicillium sp. DT-F29.

Four new analogues of brefeldin A named 7, 7-dimethoxybrefeldin C (3), 6ß-hydroxybrefeldin C (4), 4-epi-15-epi-brefeldin A (5), 4-epi-8α-hydroxy-15-epi-brefeldin C (6), together with four known analogues (1, 7-9) were isolated from a fermentation of the sediment-derived fungus Penicillium sp. DT-F29. The structures of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic and chemical methods. In the bioactivity assays, only compounds 1 and 8 showed significant inhibitory activities against human lung adenocarcinoma cell. In addition, compound 1 was first reported for the potent ability to reactivate latent HIV with EC50 value of 0.03 µM.

Removal of refractory organics in nanofiltration concentrates of municipal solid waste leachate treatment plants by combined Fenton oxidative-coagulation with photo--Fenton processes.

Removal of the refractory organic matters in leachate brines generated from nanofiltration unit in two full-scale municipal solid waste landfill leachate treatment plants was investigated by Fenton oxidative-coagulation and ultraviolet photo - Fenton processes in this study. Fenton oxidative-coagulation was performed under the condition of an initial pH of 5.0 and low H2O2/Fe(2+) ratios. After precipitate separation, the remaining organic constituents were further oxidized by photo - Fenton process. For both leachate brines with varying pollution strength, more than 90% COD and TOC reductions were achieved at H2O2/Fe(2+) dosages of 35 mM/8 mM and 90 mM/10 mM, respectively. The effluent COD ranged 120-160 mg/L under the optimal operating conditions, and the biodegradability was increased significantly. Fenton oxidative-coagulation was demonstrated to contribute nearly 70% overall removal of organic matters. In the combined processes, the efficiency of hydrogen peroxide varied from 216 to 228%, which may significantly reduce the operating cost of conventional Fenton method. Six phthalic acid esters and thirteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were found in leachate brines, and, on the average, around 80% phthalic acid esters and 90% polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were removed by the combined treatments.