Structural Characterization and Spatial Mapping of Tetrodotoxins in Australian Polyclads.

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent marine neurotoxin that occurs in several Australian phyla, including pufferfish, toadfish, gobies, and the blue-ringed octopus. These animals are partially immune, and TTX is known to bioaccumulate and subject to trophic transfer. As such, it could be more ubiquitously distributed in animals than is currently known. Flatworms of the order Polycladida are commonly occurring invertebrates in intertidal ecosystems and are especially diverse in Australian waters. While TTX has been identified in polyclads from Japan and New Zealand, Australian species have yet to be tested. In this study, several eastern Australian polyclad flatworm species from the suborders Cotylea and Acotylea were tested for TTX and analogs by HILIC-HRMS to understand the distribution of this toxin within these suborders. Herein, we report the detection of TTX and some known analogs in polyclad species, one of which is a pest to shellfish aquaculture. We also report, for the first time, the application of MALDI mass spectrometry imaging utilized to map TTX spatially within the intestinal system of polyclads. The identification of TTX and its analogs in Australian flatworms illustrates a broader range of toxic flatworms and highlights that analogs are important to consider when studying the distributions of toxins in animals.

Isolation and Structure Elucidation of Additional Alkaloids from the Tropical Rainforest Tree Galbulimima baccata.

The structures of five new natural products (GB 27-GB 31, 1-5), isolated as minor components from the bark of Galbulimima baccata, have been determined by 2D NMR spectroscopy in combination with DFT calculations. Among the alkaloids, GB 31 (5) belongs to Class I, GB 27 (1) and 28 (2) belong to Class II, and GB 30 (4) belongs to Class III GB alkaloids. GB 31 is the first non-nitrogen-containing GB "alkaloid", being a biosynthetic oxidation product of himbacine, himandravine, or himbeline. GB 29 (3) has an entirely new natural product scaffold but belongs to Class IV (miscellaneous alkaloids). The isolation of a new Galbulimima scaffold has revealed a new pathway in the biosynthesis of the GB alkaloids. The new molecules isolated have shed further light on the biogenetic relationship among these structurally unique and complex groups of alkaloids. We present, for the first time, a unified biogenesis for the GB alkaloids that were first isolated in the 1950s and now number over 40 examples. This work also brings full circle the story of Galbulimima alkaloids. A life-long project of Wal Taylor involving one of his first students (Lew Mander) and one of his last students (Peter Karuso), a story stretching over six decades, has come to a final conclusion.

Daptomycin suppresses tumor migration and angiogenesis via binding to ribosomal protein S19 in humans.

We have previously reported that daptomycin (DAP), a last resort antibiotic, binds to ribosomal protein S19 (RPS19) in humans and exhibits selective anti-cancer activity against MCF7 breast cancer cells. Here, we investigated the role of RPS19 in the anti-cancer effects of DAP and have found that DAP does not induce autophagy, apoptosis or cell viability but does reduce cell proliferation. Our results suggest that an extraribosomal function of RPS19 involves the regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) but not EGF, PDGF or FGF. Engagement of RPS19 by DAP was shown by CETSA and ITDRFCETSA assays, and knocking down of RPS19 with siRNA increased the potency of DAP in MCF7 cells. In addition, DAP suppressed the secretion of VEGF in cancer cells and thereby inhibited cell migration. Collectively, these data provide an outline of the underlying mechanism of how DAP exhibits anti-cancer activity and suggests that RPS19 could be a promising target for the development of new anticancer drugs.

Chlorinated metabolites from Streptomyces sp. highlight the role of biosynthetic mosaics and superclusters in the evolution of chemical diversity.

LCMS-guided screening of a library of biosynthetically talented bacteria and fungi identified Streptomyces sp. MST- as a prolific producer of chlorinated metabolites. We isolated and characterised six new and nine reported compounds from MST-, belonging to three discrete classes - the depsipeptide svetamycins, the indolocarbazole borregomycins and the aromatic polyketide anthrabenzoxocinones. Following genome sequencing of MST-, we describe, for the first time, the svetamycin biosynthetic gene cluster (sve), its mosaic structure and its relationship to several distantly related gene clusters. Our analysis of the sve cluster suggested that the reported stereostructures of the svetamycins may be incorrect. This was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, allowing us to formally revise the absolute configurations of svetamycins A-G. We also show that the borregomycins and anthrabenzoxocinones are encoded by a single supercluster (bab) implicating superclusters as potential nucleation points for the evolution of biosynthetic gene clusters. These clusters highlight how individual enzymes and functional subclusters can be co-opted during the formation of biosynthetic gene clusters, providing a rare insight into the poorly understood mechanisms underpinning the evolution of chemical diversity.

Natural Products in Polyclad Flatworms.

Marine invertebrates are promising sources of novel bioactive secondary metabolites, and organisms like sponges, ascidians and nudibranchs are characterised by possessing potent defensive chemicals. Animals that possess chemical defences often advertise this fact with aposematic colouration that potential predators learn to avoid. One seemingly defenceless group that can present bright colouration patterns are flatworms of the order Polycladida. Although members of this group have typically been overlooked due to their solitary and benthic nature, recent studies have isolated the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin from these mesopredators. This review considers the potential of polyclads as potential sources of natural products and reviews what is known of the activity of the molecules found in these animals. Considering the ecology and diversity of polyclads, only a small number of species from both suborders of Polycladida, Acotylea and Cotylea have been investigated for natural products. As such, confirming assumptions as to which species are in any sense toxic or if the compounds they use are biosynthesised, accumulated from food or the product of symbiotic bacteria is difficult. However, further research into the group is suggested as these animals often display aposematic colouration and are known to prey on invertebrates rich in bioactive secondary metabolites.

Rechoreographing Enterocin's Ballet of Isomers: Structure Revision of Enterocins C, D, and F.

The tricyclic scaffold of the bacterial polyketide enterocin was recently shown to undergo stereodiversification through a series of abiotic isomerizations, described metaphorically as a "ballet of isomers". However, some confusion remains regarding the exact nature of these interconversions, with two independent reports proposing different reaction mechanisms and intermediates. Herein, we have rechoreographed enterocin's ballet of isomers to provide a unified mechanism and revised the structures reported for enterocins C, D, and F.

The chemical gymnastics of enterocin: evidence for stereodivergence in Nature.

Stereodivergence in Nature encapsulates both enzymatic (biosynthetic) and non-enzymatic (chemical) diversification of natural product scaffolds arising from a single biosynthetic pathway. Herein, we report a fascinating example of stereodivergence for the bacterial polyketide enterocin, which we observed to undergo a series of facile skeletal rearrangements in solution, leading to four distinct isomeric structures. The final distribution of the four isomers was found to be highly sensitive to the conditions used, including solvent, temperature and pH. In this study, we have investigated the kinetics of these isomeric conversions, and using a combination of DFT and thermochemical calculations, were able to establish a mechanism detailing a concerted rearrangement and an unusual "gymnastic" sequence of pseudo-chair-boat conformational interconversions. In addition to these kinetic and mechanistic studies, we also performed a semisynthetic study aimed at stabilising the enterocin scaffold. In total, seven analogues of enterocin were synthesised and investigated for their stability and in vitro activity against a panel of bacteria, fungi, plants and mammalian cells.

Talauxins: Hybrid Phenalenone Dimers from Talaromyces stipitatus.

Cultivation and extraction of the fungus Talaromyces stipitatus led to the isolation of five new oxyphenalenone-amino acid hybrids, which were named talauxins E, Q, V, L, and I based on the corresponding one-letter amino acid codes, along with their putative biosynthetic precursor, duclauxin. The rapid reaction of duclauxin with amino acids to produce talauxins was demonstrated in vitro and exploited to generate a small library of natural and unnatural talauxins. Talauxin V was shown to undergo spontaneous elimination of methyl acetate to yield the corresponding neoclauxin scaffold. This process was modeled using density functional theory calculations, revealing a dramatic change in conformation resulting from the syn elimination of methyl acetate.

Room-Temperature Dual Fluorescence of a Locked Green Fluorescent Protein Chromophore Analogue.

A structurally locked green fluorescent protein (GFP) chromophore with a phenyl group at C(2) of the imidazolone has been synthesized. Rotation around the exocyclic double bond is hindered, resulting in room-temperature fluorescence. The quantum yield in water is 500 times greater than that of unlocked analogues. Unlike the methyl-substituted analogue, the phenyl analogue exhibits a dual emission (cyan and red) that can be used for ultrasensitive ratiometric measurements and fluorescence microscopy. To explain this dual emission, DFT calculations were carried out along with fluorescence upconversion experiments. The Z-isomer was found to be emissive, while the origin of the dual emission was dependent on the phenyl group in the Z-isomer, which stabilizes the Franck-Condon state, resulting in a cyan fluorescence, while the zwitterionic tautomer fluoresces red. These results bring important new insights into the photophysics of the GFP chromophore and provide a new scaffold capable of dual emission with utility in biotechnology.

Is it time for artificial intelligence to predict the function of natural products based on 2D-structure.

Currently, there is no established technique that allows the function of a compound produced by nature to be predicted by looking at its 2-dimensional chemical structure. One of chemistry's grand challenges: to find a function for every known metabolite. We explore the opportunity for Artificial Intelligence to provide rationale interrogation of metabolites to predict their function.

Bisindole Alkaloids from a New Zealand Deep-Sea Marine Sponge Lamellomorpha strongylata.

Chemical investigation of the secondary metabolites of a rare New Zealand deep-sea sponge, Lamellomorpha strongylata, resulted in the isolation of twenty-one indole alkaloids, including two new bisindoles-(Z)-coscinamide D (1), (E)-coscinamide D (2)-and four compounds isolated for the first time as natural products-lamellomorphamides A (3), B (4), C (5) and D (6). In addition, fifteen previously reported natural products were isolated, seven of which are seco analogs of hamacanthin alkaloids. The one sponge produces enantiomerically pure but opposite configurations of compounds that only differ in the number of bromines, suggesting enantiodivergent biosynthesis. In addition, four compounds were isolated as partial racemates, suggesting these compounds are biosynthesized via two independent routes.

Reverse Chemical Proteomics Identifies an Unanticipated Human Target of the Antimalarial Artesunate.

Artemisinins are the most potent and safe antimalarials available. Despite their clinical potential, no human target for the artemisinins is known. The unbiased interrogation of several human cDNA libraries, displayed on bacteriophage T7, revealed a single human target of artesunate; the intrinsically disordered Bcl-2 antagonist of cell death promoter (BAD). We show that artesunate inhibits the phosphorylation of BAD, thereby promoting the formation of the proapoptotic BAD/Bcl-xL complex and the subsequent intrinsic apoptotic cascade involving cytochrome c release, PARP cleavage, caspase activation, and ultimately cell death. This unanticipated role of BAD as a possible drug target of artesunate points to direct clinical exploitation of artemisinins in the Bcl-xL life/death switch and that artesunate's anticancer activity is, at least in part, independent of reactive oxygen species.

Banksialactones and Banksiamarins: Isochromanones and Isocoumarins from an Australian Fungus, Aspergillus banksianus.

Chemical investigation of an Australian fungus, Aspergillus banksianus, led to the isolation of the major metabolite banksialactone A (1), eight new isochromanones, banksialactones B-I (2-9), two new isocoumarins, banksiamarins A and B (10 and 11), and the reported compounds, clearanol I (12), dothideomynone A (13), questin (14), and endocrocin (15). The structures of 1-11 were established by NMR spectroscopic data analysis, and the absolute configurations were determined from optical rotations and ECD spectra in conjunction with TD-DFT calculations. The secondary metabolite profile of A. banksianus is unusual, with the 11 most abundant metabolites belonging to a single isochromanone class. Conjugation of 1 with endocrocin, 5-methylorsellinic acid, 3,5-dimethylorsellinic acid, mercaptolactic acid, and an unknown methylthio source gave rise to five unprecedented biosynthetic hybrids, 5-9. The isolated compounds were tested for cytotoxicity, antibacterial, and antifungal activities, with hybrid metabolites 7-9 displaying weak cytotoxic and antibiotic activities.

Expanding antibiotic chemical space around the nidulin pharmacophore.

Reinvestigating antibiotic scaffolds that were identified during the Golden Age of antibiotic discovery, but have long since been "forgotten", has proven to be an effective strategy for delivering next-generation antibiotics capable of combatting multidrug-resistant superbugs. In this study, we have revisited the trichloro-substituted depsidone, nidulin, as a selective and unexploited antibiotic lead produced by the fungus Aspergillus unguis. Manipulation of halide ion concentration proved to be a powerful tool for modulating secondary metabolite production and triggering quiescent pathways in A. unguis. Supplementation of the culture media with chloride resulted in a shift in co-metabolite profile to dichlorounguinols and nornidulin at the expense of the non-chlorinated parent, unguinol. Surprisingly, only marginal enhancement of nidulin was observed, suggesting O-methylation may be rate-limiting. Similarly, supplementation of the media with bromide led to the production of the corresponding bromo-analogues, but also resulted in a novel family of depsides, the unguidepsides. Unexpectedly, depletion of chloride from the media halted the biosynthesis of the non-chlorinated parent compound, unguinol, and redirected biosynthesis to a novel family of ring-opened analogues, the unguinolic acids. Supplementation of the media with a range of unnatural salicylic acids failed to yield the corresponding nidulin analogues, suggesting the compounds may be biosynthesised by a single polyketide synthase. In total, 12 new and 11 previously reported nidulin analogues were isolated, characterised and assayed for in vitro activity against a panel of bacteria, fungi and mammalian cells, providing a comprehensive structure-activity profile for the nidulin scaffold.

Quantitation of the anticancer drug abiraterone and its metabolite Δ(4)-abiraterone in human plasma using high-resolution mass spectrometry.

Abiraterone acetate is administered as a prodrug to patients with metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and is readily metabolized into the potent 17a-hydroxylase/17,20-lyase (CYP17) enzyme inhibitor and androgen receptor inhibitor abiraterone and Δ(4)-abiraterone (D4A), respectively. To investigate pharmacokinetic variability in abiraterone acetate metabolism we developed highly sensitive liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) assays for the simultaneous quantitation of abiraterone and D4A in human plasma using high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) on an Orbitrap mass spectrometer. This study demonstrates the quantitative performance of HRMS and compares the conventional Parallel Reaction Monitoring (PRM) mode of quantitation with the unconventional Full scan MS mode conducted at high resolution (>70,000 resolution). The use of HRMS for quantitation of abiraterone and D4A yielded assays that were linear over a broad concentration range (0.074-509.6 ng/mL for abiraterone; 0.075-59.93 ng/mL for D4A) in both Full scan MS and PRM modes. The assay precision for abiraterone and D4A was below 5% in PRM mode and 7% in Full scan MS mode. Accuracies fell within 98-107% for abiraterone and 104-112% for D4A in PRM mode, and 96-116% for abiraterone and 96-105% for D4A in Full scan MS mode, each meeting the acceptance criteria of FDA approved guidelines for bioanalytical methods The PRM analysis of abiraterone and D4A provided high specificity and reduced background interference, however the Full scan MS detection at a resolution of 70,000 was advantageous in that it required minimal optimization, was simple to implement, yielded comparable quantitative characteristics to PRM and the data is useful for re-analysis. Use of the assays were demonstrated for quantitation of these metabolites in steady state trough level plasma of seventeen (17) patients with mCRPC, demonstrating the inter-patient variability of up to 10-fold concentration.

Synthesis of Substituted Oxo-Azepines by Regio- and Diastereoselective Hydroxylation.

Substituted seven-membered N-heterocycles are prevalent bioactive epitopes and useful synthons for preparing enzyme inhibitors or molecular recognition systems. To fully exploit the chemical properties of this flexible N-heterocycle scaffold, efficient methods for its diverse functionalization are required. Here we utilize the late-stage oxidation of tetrahydroazepines as an approach to access densely functionalized oxo-azepines in a total of 8 steps and ~30% overall yield from commercially available starting materials. Hydroboration of tetrahydroazepines proceeded with diastereoselectivity in a substrate-dependent manner to yield regioisomeric azepanols before their oxidation to the corresponding oxo-azepines. Regioselectivity of the hydroboration step may be improved moderately by a rhodium catalyst, albeit with loss of conversion to a competing hydrogenation pathway. Overall our method allows efficient access to azepanols and oxo-azepines as versatile epitopes and synthons with a high degree of diastereoselectivity and moderate regioselectivity.

Crellasterones A and B: A-Norsterol Derivatives from the New Caledonian Sponge Crella incrustans.

Two new steroids, crellasterones A (1) and B (2), together with the previously reported compound chalinasterol (3) and several nucleosides (4-7), were isolated from the sponge Crella incrustans, collected in New Caledonia. The structures of the new compounds were established by extensive NMR and mass spectroscopic analysis and revealed unprecedented marine natural products with a ring-contracted A-norsterone nucleus and 2-hydroxycyclopentenone chromophore. The absolute configurations were derived from electronic circular dichroism (ECD) measurements in conjunction with high-level density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

Enantiodivergence in the Biosynthesis of Bromotyrosine Alkaloids from Sponges?

The isolation of bromotyrosine alkaloids, some of which are enantiomers of previously isolated compounds, has highlighted a possible enantiodivergence in their biosynthesis. Two new (1, 2) and six known bromotyrosine alkaloids (4-9), and the enantiomer (10) of a known compound, have been isolated from a Western Australian marine sponge, Pseudoceratina cf. verrucosa. The compounds inhibited the growth of multidrug-resistant and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus with comparable activity to vancomycin. In addition, one possible artifact of extraction (3) containing an ethoxy group was isolated. From analysis of the known bromotyrosine alkaloids, a biogenesis is proposed that explains the formation of antipodal natural products within this family of sponges.

Epicocconone-Hemicyanine Hybrids: Near Infrared Fluorophores for Protein Staining and Cell Imaging.

The development of new near infrared (NIR) dyes is crucial for diverse applications and especially bioimaging, as they absorb and emit light in the "therapeutic window" (650-950 nm). We report here a new family of NIR fluorophores that has been obtained by hybridising hemicyanines with epicocconone. Emission wavelengths of these hybrid dyes is in the range 715-795 nm and is combined with large Stokes' shifts (75-95 nm). The absorption and emission wavelength can be modulated according to the hemicyanine moiety and adding sulfonic acid moieties enhances water solubility. We demonstrate their application in the sensitive detection of proteins in gel electrophoresis and the staining of specific cellular organelles in confocal microscopy. These results are particularly encouraging and bring forward a new fluorescent skeleton for chemical biology.