Maramycin, a Cytotoxic Isoquinolinequinone Terpenoid Produced through Heterologous Expression of a Bifunctional Indole Prenyltransferase/Tryptophan Indole-Lyase in S. albidoflavus.

Isoquinolinequinones represent an important family of natural alkaloids with profound biological activities. Heterologous expression of a rare bifunctional indole prenyltransferase/tryptophan indole-lyase enzyme from Streptomyces mirabilis P8-A2 in S. albidoflavus J1074 led to the activation of a putative isoquinolinequinone biosynthetic gene cluster and production of a novel isoquinolinequinone alkaloid, named maramycin (1). The structure of maramycin was determined by analysis of spectroscopic (1D/2D NMR) and MS spectrometric data. The prevalence of this bifunctional biosynthetic enzyme was explored and found to be a recent evolutionary event with only a few representatives in nature. Maramycin exhibited moderate cytotoxicity against human prostate cancer cell lines, LNCaP and C4-2B. The discovery of maramycin (1) enriched the chemical diversity of natural isoquinolinequinones and also provided new insights into crosstalk between the host biosynthetic genes and the heterologous biosynthetic genes in generating new chemical scaffolds.

Genome-Driven Discovery of Hygrocins in Streptomyces rapamycinicus.

Ansamycins, represented by the antituberculosis drug rifamycin, are an important family of natural products. To obtain new ansamycins, Streptomyces rapamycinicus IMET 43975 harboring an ansamycin biosynthetic gene cluster was fermented in a 50 L scale, and subsequent purification work led to the isolation of five known and four new analogues, where hygrocin W (2) belongs to benzoquinonoid ansamycins, and the other three hygrocins, hygrocins X-Z (6-8), are new seco-hygrocins. The structures of ansamycins (1-8) were determined by the analysis of spectroscopic (1D/2D NMR and ECD) and MS spectrometric data. The Baeyer-Villiger enzyme which catalyzed the ester formation in the ansa-ring was confirmed through in vivo CRISPR base editing. The discovery of these compounds further enriches the structural diversity of ansamycins.

Pepticinnamins N, O, and P, Nonribosomal Peptides from the Soil-Derived Streptomyces mirabilis P8-A2.

Cinnamoyl moiety containing nonribosomal peptides represented by pepticinnamin E are a growing family of natural products isolated from different Streptomyces species and possess diverse bioactivities. The soil bacterium Streptomyces mirabilis P8-A2 harbors a cryptic pepticinnamin biosynthetic gene cluster, producing azodyrecins as major products. Inactivation of the azodyrecin biosynthetic gene cluster by CRISPR-BEST base editing led to the activation and production of pepticinnamin E (1) and its analogues, pepticinnamins N, O, and P (2-4), the structures of which were determined by detailed NMR spectroscopy, HRMS data, and Marfey's reactions. These new compounds did not show a growth inhibitory effect against the LNCaP and C4-2B prostate cancer lines, respectively.

Small-molecule modulators of tumor necrosis factor signaling.

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a pleiotropic cytokine with a major role in immune system homeostasis and is involved in many inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis, Alzheimer's disease (AD), and multiple sclerosis (MS). Thus, TNF and its receptors, TNFR1 and TNFR2, are relevant pharmacological targets. Biologics have been developed to block TNF-dependent signaling cascades, but they display serious side effects, and their pharmacological effectiveness decreases over time because of their immunogenicity. In this review, we present recent discoveries in small molecules targeting TNF and its receptors and discuss alternative strategies for modulating TNF signaling.

Sulochrins and alkaloids from a fennel endophyte Aspergillus sp. FVL2.

The fungal endophyte Aspergillus sp. strain FVL2, isolated from the traditional medicinal fennel plant, Foeniculum vulgare, was investigated for secondary metabolites. Fermentation on rice medium followed by chromatographic separation delivered three new natural products, 7-demethyl-neosulochrin (1), fumigaclavine I (3) and N-benzoyl-tryptophan (6) together with further 14 known metabolites, 1-O-methyl-sulochrin-4'-sulfate, questin, laccaic acid, isorhodoptilometrin, fumigaclavine A, fumigaclavine C, fumitremorgin C, fumigaquinazoline C, tryptoquivaline J, trypacidin, 3'-O-demethyl-sulochrin, 1-O-methyl-sulochrin, protocatechuic acid, and vermelone. The chemical structures of the new metabolites were determined by NMR spectroscopy and ESI HR mass spectrometry. For fumigaclavine I, we observed the partial deuterium transfer from the solvent to the enol form with a remarkable high stereo selectivity. The discovery of the new seco-anthraquinone 7-demethyl-neosulochrin (1) revealed a second type of ring cleavage by a questin oxygenase. The discovery of diverse secondary metabolites broadens the chemical space of Aspergillus.

Identification of the Biosynthetic Gene Cluster for Pyracrimycin A, an Antibiotic Produced by Streptomyces sp.

Actinomycetes make a wealth of complex, structurally diverse natural products, and a key challenge is to link them to their biosynthetic gene clusters and delineate the reactions catalyzed by each of the enzymes. Here, we report the biosynthetic gene cluster for pyracrimycin A, a set of nine genes that includes a core nonribosomal peptide synthase (pymB) that utilizes serine and proline as precursors and a monooxygenase (pymC) that catalyzes Baeyer-Villiger oxidation. The cluster is similar to the one for brabantamide A; however, pyracrimycin A biosynthesis differs in that feeding experiments with isotope-labeled serine and proline suggest that a ring opening reaction takes place and a carbon is lost from serine downstream of the oxidation reaction. Based on these data, we propose a full biosynthesis pathway for pyracrimycin A.

Triculamin: An Unusual Lasso Peptide with Potent Antimycobacterial Activity.

Lasso peptides are ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) produced by microorganisms. Here we show that the two natural products triculamin and alboverticillin, originally isolated in 1967 and 1958, respectively, with potent and specific activity against mycobacteria are in fact the same lasso peptide. We solved the structure using 2D NMR spectroscopy and expanded on the previously reported bioactivity. Through genome sequencing, we identify the responsible biosynthetic gene clusters, which curiously revealed that, unlike any known lasso peptides, their precursor peptides appear to have a follower instead of a leader peptide.

Collagenase and Tyrosinase Inhibitory Effect of Isolated Constituents from the Moss Polytrichum formosum.

Mosses from the genus Polytrichum have been shown to contain rare benzonaphthoxanthenones compounds, and many of these have been reported to have important biological activities. In this study, extracts from Polytrichum formosum were analyzed in vitro for their inhibitory properties on collagenase and tyrosinase activity, two important cosmetic target enzymes involved respectively in skin aging and pigmentation. The 70% ethanol extract showed a dose-dependent inhibitory effect against collagenase (IC50 = 4.65 mg/mL). The methanol extract showed a mild inhibitory effect of 44% against tyrosinase at 5.33 mg/mL. Both extracts were investigated to find the constituents having a specific affinity to the enzyme targets collagenase and tyrosinase. The known compounds ohioensin A (1), ohioensin C (3), and communin B (4), together with nor-ohioensin D (2), a new benzonaphthoxanthenone, were isolated from P. formosum. Their structures were determined by mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. Compounds 1 (IC50 = 71.99 µM) and 2 (IC50 = 167.33 µM) showed inhibitory activity against collagenase. Compound 1 also exhibited inhibition of 30% against tyrosinase activity at 200 µM. The binding mode of the active compounds was theoretically generated by an in-silico approach against the 3D structures of collagenase and tyrosinase. These current results present the potential application from the moss P. formosum as a new natural source of collagenase and tyrosinase inhibitors.

Fragment-Based Drug Discovery for RNA Targets.

Rapid development within the fields of both fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) and medicinal targeting of RNA provides possibilities for combining technologies and methods in novel ways. This review provides an overview of fragment-based screening (FBS) against RNA targets, including a discussion of the most recently used screening and hit validation methods such as NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, and virtual screening methods. A discussion of fragment library design based on research from small-molecule RNA binders provides an overview on both the currently limited guidelines within RNA-targeting fragment library design, and future possibilities. Finally, future perspectives are provided on screening and hit validation methods not yet used in combination with both fragment screening and RNA targets.

Genetic origin of homopyrones, a rare type of hybrid phenylpropanoid- and polyketide-derived yellow pigments from Aspergillus homomorphus.

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for the replacement of synthetic food colorants with naturally derived alternatives. Filamentous fungi are prolific producers of secondary metabolites including polyketide-derived pigments, many of which have not been fully characterized yet. During our ongoing investigations of black aspergilli, we noticed that Aspergillus homomorphus turned yellow when cultivated on malt extract agar plates. Chemical discovery guided by UV and MS led to the isolation of two novel yellow natural products, and their structures were elucidated as aromatic α-pyrones homopyrones A (1) and B (2) by HRMS and NMR. Combined investigations including retro-biosynthesis, genome mining, and gene deletions successfully linked both compounds to their related biosynthetic gene clusters. This demonstrated that homopyrones are biosynthesized by using cinnamoyl-CoA as the starter unit, followed by extension with three malonyl-CoA units, and lactonization to give the core hybrid backbone structure. The polyketide synthase AhpA includes a C-methylation domain, which however seems to be promiscuous since only 2 is C-methylated. Altogether, the homopyrones represent a rare case of hybrid phenylpropanoid- and polyketide-derived natural products in filamentous fungi. KEY POINTS: • Homopyrones represent a rare type of fungal polyketides synthesized from cinnamic-CoA. • CRISPR/Cas9 technology has been firstly applied in Aspergillus homomorphus.

Taxonomy Driven Discovery of Polyketides from Aspergillus californicus.

Five new polyketides were isolated from the rare filamentous fungus Aspergillus californicus IBT 16748 including calidiol A (1); three phthalide derivatives califuranones A1, A2, and B (2-4); and a pair of enantiomers (-)-calitetralintriol A (-5) and (+)-calitetralintriol A (+5) together with four known metabolites (6-9). The structures of the new products were established by extensive spectroscopic analyses including HRMS and 1D and 2D NMR. The absolute configurations of two diastereomers 2 and 3 and the enantiomers (-5) and (+5) were assigned by comparing their experimental and calculated ECD data, whereas the absolute configuration of 4 was proposed by analogy. Compound 1 showed moderate activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Azodyrecins A-C: Azoxides from a Soil-Derived Streptomyces Species.

Azoxy compounds belong to a small group of natural products sharing a common functional group with the general structure RN = N+(O-)R. Three new azoxides, azodyrecins A-C (1-3), were isolated from a soil-derived Streptomyces sp. strain P8-A2. The cis-alkenyl unit in 1-3 was found to readily isomerize to the trans-congeners (4-6). The structures of the new compounds were determined by detailed spectroscopic (1D/2D NMR) and HRMS data analysis. Azodyrecins belong to a new class of natural azoxy compounds and are proposed to derive from l-alanine and alkylamines. The absolute configurations of 1-6 were defined by comparison of ECD spectra. While no antimicrobial effects were observed for 1 against Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio anguillarum, or Candida albicans, azodyrecin B (2) exhibited cytotoxicity against the human leukemia cell line HL-60 with an IC50 value of 2.2 µM.

A fluoride-responsive genetic circuit enables in vivo biofluorination in engineered Pseudomonas putida.

Fluorine is a key element in the synthesis of molecules broadly used in medicine, agriculture and materials. Addition of fluorine to organic structures represents a unique strategy for tuning molecular properties, yet this atom is rarely found in Nature and approaches to integrate fluorometabolites into the biochemistry of living cells are scarce. In this work, synthetic gene circuits for organofluorine biosynthesis are implemented in the platform bacterium Pseudomonas putida. By harnessing fluoride-responsive riboswitches and the orthogonal T7 RNA polymerase, biochemical reactions needed for in vivo biofluorination are wired to the presence of fluoride (i.e. circumventing the need of feeding expensive additives). Biosynthesis of fluoronucleotides and fluorosugars in engineered P. putida is demonstrated with mineral fluoride both as only fluorine source (i.e. substrate of the pathway) and as inducer of the synthetic circuit. This approach expands the chemical landscape of cell factories by providing alternative biosynthetic strategies towards fluorinated building-blocks.

The 3F Library: Fluorinated Fsp3 -Rich Fragments for Expeditious 19 F†NMR Based Screening.

Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) is a popular method in academia and the pharmaceutical industry for the discovery of early lead candidates. Despite its wide-spread use, the approach still suffers from laborious screening workflows and a limited diversity in the fragments applied. Presented here is the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of the first fragment library specifically tailored to tackle both these challenges. The 3F library of 115 fluorinated, Fsp3 -rich fragments is shape diverse and natural-product-like with desirable physicochemical properties. The library is perfectly suited for rapid and efficient screening by NMR spectroscopy in a two-stage workflow of 19 F NMR and subsequent 1 H NMR methods. Hits against four diverse protein targets are widely distributed among the fragment scaffolds in the 3F library and a 67 % validation rate was achieved using secondary assays. This collection is the first synthetic fragment library tailor-made for 19 F NMR screening and the results demonstrate that the approach should find broad application in the FBDD community.

Mass Spectrometry Guided Discovery and Design of Novel Asperphenamate Analogs From Penicillium astrolabium Reveals an Extraordinary NRPS Flexibility.

Asperphenamate is a small peptide natural product that has gained much interest due to its antitumor activity. In the recent years numerous bioactive synthetic asperphenamate analogs have been reported, whereas only a handful of natural analogs either of microbial or plant origin has been discovered. Herein we describe a UHPLC-HRMS/MS and amino acid supplement approach for discovery and design of novel asperphenamate analogs. Chemical analysis of Penicillium astrolabium, a prolific producer of asperphenamate, revealed three previously described and two novel asperphenamate analogs produced in significant amounts, suggesting a potential for biosynthesis of further asperphenamate analogs by varying the amino acid availability. Subsequent growth on proteogenic and non-proteogenic amino acid enriched media, revealed a series of novel asperphenamate analogs, including single or double amino acid exchange, as well as benzoic acid exchange for nicotinic acid, with the latter observed from a natural source for the first time. In total, 22 new asperphenamate analogs were characterized by HRMS/MS, with one additionally confirmed by isolation and NMR structure elucidation. This study indicates an extraordinary nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) flexibility based on substrate availability, and therefore the potential for manipulating and designing novel peptide natural products in filamentous fungi.

Iridoid glucosides in the genus Sutera (Scrophulariaceae) as chemotaxonomic markers in tribe Limoselleae.

From two species of Sutera (S. foetida and S. cordata) (Scrophulariaceae tribe Limoselleae) were isolated three known secoiridoid glucosides (12-14) as well as four iridoid congeners (8-11), all biosynthetically derived from iridodial glucoside (and/or deoxyloganic acid). In addition, two previously unknown compounds were found, namely a terpenoid glucoside lactone (suterolide, 21) and the phenylethanoid glycoside 2''''-O-acetyl-angoroside A (19) as well as verbascoside, echinacoside and tubuloside A(15-17, respectively). Two other species, Jamesbrittenia dissecta and Lyperia antirrhinoides, previously considered to belong to the same genus (Sutera) were shown to be members of two different genera, respectively. Significantly, these two species contained iridoids derived from 8-epi-iridodial (and 8-epideoxyloganic acid), namely aucubin (2), melittoside (3) and acetylharpagide (4). In addition we investigated Melanospermum transvaalense, Lyperia tristis and Microdon dubius likewise from Limoselleae and all of these contained iridoid glucosides from the 8-epi-pathway. Thus, secoiridoid distribution confirms the DNA-based circumscription of Sutera and its sister-group relationship with Manulea. In addition, the results show that the clade including these two genera has a biosynthetic pathway to iridoids fundamentally different from the rest of the tribe and from the whole family Scrophulariaceae.

Genetic Characterization of Neosartorin Biosynthesis Provides Insight into Heterodimeric Natural Product Generation.

A biosynthetic gene cluster of the fungal xanthone heterodimer neosartorin (1) was discovered in Aspergillus novofumigatus, and its biosynthesis was investigated by a series of gene-deletion experiments. The results indicate that the two monomeric units of 1 are synthesized by the same set of enzymes, with chrysophanol (5) as a common precursor. Furthermore, the P450 monooxygenase NsrP for the heterodimerization was discovered, which also accepts non-native substrates to afford novel xanthone dimers.

Novofumigatonin biosynthesis involves a non-heme iron-dependent endoperoxide isomerase for orthoester formation.

Novofumigatonin (1), isolated from the fungus Aspergillus novofumigatus, is a heavily oxygenated meroterpenoid containing a unique orthoester moiety. Despite the wide distribution of orthoesters in nature and their biological importance, little is known about the biogenesis of orthoesters. Here we show the elucidation of the biosynthetic pathway of 1 and the identification of key enzymes for the orthoester formation by a series of CRISPR-Cas9-based gene-deletion experiments and in vivo and in vitro reconstitutions of the biosynthesis. The novofumigatonin pathway involves endoperoxy compounds as key precursors for the orthoester synthesis, in which the Fe(II)/α-ketoglutarate-dependent enzyme NvfI performs the endoperoxidation. NvfE, the enzyme catalyzing the orthoester synthesis, is an Fe(II)-dependent, but cosubstrate-free, endoperoxide isomerase, despite the fact that NvfE shares sequence homology with the known Fe(II)/α-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases. NvfE thus belongs to a class of enzymes that gained an isomerase activity by losing the α-ketoglutarate-binding ability.

On the biosynthetic origin of carminic acid.

The chemical composition of the scale insect Dactylopius coccus was analyzed with the aim to discover new possible intermediates in the biosynthesis of carminic acid. UPLC-DAD/HRMS analyses of fresh and dried insects resulted in the identification of three novel carminic acid analogues and the verification of several previously described intermediates. Structural elucidation revealed that the three novel compounds were desoxyerythrolaccin-O-glucosyl (DE-O-Glcp), 5,6-didehydroxyerythrolaccin 3-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside (DDE-3-O-Glcp), and flavokermesic acid anthrone (FKA). The finding of FKA in D. coccus provides solid evidence of a polyketide, rather than a shikimate, origin of coccid pigments. Based on the newly identified compounds, we present a detailed biosynthetic scheme that accounts for the formation of carminic acid (CA) in D. coccus and all described coccid pigments which share a flavokermesic acid (FK) core. Detection of coccid pigment intermediates in members of the Planococcus (mealybugs) and Pseudaulacaspis genera shows that the ability to form these pigments is taxonomically more widely spread than previously documented. The shared core-FK-biosynthetic pathway and wider taxonomic distribution suggests a common evolutionary origin for the trait in all coccid dye producing insect species.