The Ptk2-Pma1 pathway enhances tolerance to terbinafine in Trichophyton rubrum.

The increasing prevalence of dermatophyte resistance to terbinafine, a key drug in the treatment of dermatophytosis, represents a significant obstacle to treatment. Trichophyton rubrum is the most commonly isolated fungus in dermatophytosis. In T. rubrum, we identified TERG_07844, a gene encoding a previously uncharacterized putative protein kinase, as an ortholog of budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae polyamine transport kinase 2 (Ptk2), and found that T. rubrum Ptk2 (TrPtk2) is involved in terbinafine tolerance. In both T. rubrum and S. cerevisiae, Ptk2 knockout strains were more sensitive to terbinafine compared with the wild types, suggesting that promotion of terbinafine tolerance is a conserved function of fungal Ptk2. Pma1 is activated through phosphorylation by Ptk2 in S. cerevisiae. Overexpression of T. rubrum Pma1 (TrPma1) in T. rubrum Ptk2 knockout strain (ΔTrPtk2) suppressed terbinafine sensitivity, suggesting that the induction of terbinafine tolerance by TrPtk2 is mediated by TrPma1. Furthermore, omeprazole, an inhibitor of plasma membrane proton pump Pma1, increased the terbinafine sensitivity of clinically isolated terbinafine-resistant strains. These findings suggest that, in dermatophytes, the TrPtk2-TrPma1 pathway plays a key role in promoting intrinsic terbinafine tolerance and may serve as a potential target for combinational antifungal therapy against terbinafine-resistant dermatophytes.

Actinorhodin Biosynthesis Terminates with an Unprecedented Biaryl Coupling Reaction.

A plethora of dimeric natural products exist with diverse chemical structures and biological activities. A major strategy for dimerization is aryl coupling catalyzed by cytochrome P450 or laccase. Actinorhodin (ACT) from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) has a dimeric pyranonaphthoquinone structure connected by a C-C bond. In this study, we identified an NmrA-family dimerizing enzyme, ActVA-ORF4, and a cofactor-independent oxidase, ActVA-ORF3, both involved in the last step of ACT biosynthesis. ActVA-ORF4 is a unique NAD(P)H-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the intermolecular C-C bond formation using 8-hydroxydihydrokalafungin (DHK-OH) as the sole substrate. On the other hand, ActVA-ORF3 was found to be a quinone-forming enzyme that produces the coupling substrate, DHK-OH and the final product, ACT. Consequently, the functional assignment of all essential enzymes in the biosynthesis of ACT, one of the best-known model natural products, has been completed.

Characterization of stereospecific enoyl reductase ActVI-ORF2 for pyran ring formation in the actinorhodin biosynthesis of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2).

Actinorhodin (ACT) is a benzoisochromanequinone antibiotic produced by Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), which has served as a favored model organism for comprehensive studies of antibiotic biosynthesis and its regulation. (S)-DNPA undergoes various modifications as an intermediate in the ACT biosynthetic pathway, including enoyl reduction to DDHK. It has been suggested that actVI-ORF2 encodes an enoyl reductase (ER). However, its function has not been characterized in vitro. In this study, biochemical analysis of recombinant ActVI-ORF2 revealed that (S)-DNPA is converted to DDHK in a stereospecific manner with NADPH acting as a cofactor. (R)-DNPA was also reduced to 3-epi-DDHK with the comparable efficacy as (S)-DNPA, suggesting that the stereospecificity of ActVI-ORF2 was not affected by the stereochemistry at the C-3 of DNPA. ActVI-ORF2 is a new example of a discrete ER, which is distantly related to known ERs according to phylogenetic analysis.

epi-Aszonalenin B from Aspergillus novofumigatus inhibits NF-κB activity induced by ZFTA-RELA fusion protein that drives ependymoma.

Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling is an intracellular signaling pathway involved in inflammatory responses and the pathogenesis of various cancers, including ependymoma, which is a rare and chemotherapy-resistant glioma. Several isoforms of fusion proteins that consist of a nuclear protein, zinc finger translocation associated (ZFTA), and RELA (ZFTA-RELA), an NF-κB-signaling effector transcription factor, cause excessive activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway and result in supratentorial ependymomas (ST-EPN-RELA). As inhibitors of NF-κB activity induced by ZFTA-RELA are expected to be therapeutic agents for ST-EPN-RELA, we established an NF-κB responsive luciferase reporter cell line that expresses the most common isoform of ZFTA-RELA in a doxycycline-dependent manner. Using this reporter cell line, we screened fungus extracts for compounds that inhibit the NF-κB activity induced by ZFTA-RELA expression and identified aszonalenin, an alkaloid from Aspergillus novofumigatus. We also purified analogs of aszonalenin, namely acetylaszonalenin and epi-aszonalenin B and C. In a luciferase assay using cells constitutively expressing luciferase (counter assay), acetylaszonalenin and epi-aszonalenin C showed non-specific inhibition of the luciferase activity. Aszonalenin and epi-aszonalenin B inhibited the NF-κB responsive luciferase activity by expressing ZFTA-RELA more strongly than the luciferase activity in the counter assay. The upregulation of endogenous NF-κB responsive genes, such as CCND1, ICAM1, and L1CAM, by ZFTA-RELA expression was inhibited by epi-aszonalenin B, but not by aszonalenin. This study suggests that epi-aszonalenin B may be a lead compound for the therapeutic development of ST-EPN-RELA.

Total Synthesis of 6-Deoxydihydrokalafungin, a Key Biosynthetic Precursor of Actinorhodin, and Its Epimer.

In this article, we report the total synthesis of 6-deoxydihydrokalafungin (DDHK), a key biosynthetic intermediate of a dimeric benzoisochromanequinone antibiotic, actinorhodin (ACT), and its epimer, epi-DDHK. Tricyclic hemiacetal with 3-siloxyethyl group was subjected to Et3SiH reduction to establish the 1,3-cis stereochemistry in the benzoisochromane, and a subsequent oxidation/deprotection sequence then afforded epi-DDHK. A bicyclic acetal was subjected to AlH3 reduction to deliver the desired 1,3-trans isomer in an approximately 3:1 ratio, which was subjected to a similar sequence to that used for the 1,3-cis isomer that successfully afforded DDHK. A semisynthetic approach from (S)-DNPA, an isolable biosynthetic precursor of ACT, was also examined to afford DDHK and its epimer, which are identical to the synthetic products.

A single-domain small protein Med-ORF10 regulates the production of antitumour agent medermycin in Streptomyces.

Med-ORF10, a single-domain protein with unknown function encoded by a gene located in a gene cluster responsible for the biosynthesis of a novel antitumour antibiotic medermycin, shares high homology to a group of small proteins widely distributed in many aromatic polyketide antibiotic pathways. This group of proteins contain a nuclear transport factor-2 (NTF-2) domain and appear to undergo an evolutionary divergence in their functions. Gene knockout and interspecies complementation suggested that Med-ORF10 plays a regulatory role in medermycin biosynthetic pathway. Overexpression of med-ORF10 in its wild-type strain led to significant increase of medermycin production. It was also shown by qRT-PCR and Western blot that Med-ORF10 controls the expression of genes encoding tailoring enzymes involved in medermycin biosynthesis. Transcriptome analysis and qRT-PCR revealed that Med-ORF10 has pleiotropic effects on more targets. However, there is no similar conserved domain available in Med-ORF10 compared to those of mechanistically known regulatory proteins; meanwhile, no direct interaction between Med-ORF10 and its target promoter DNA was detected via gel shift assay. All these studies suggest that Med-ORF10 regulates medermycin biosynthesis probably via an indirect mode.

Identification of a C-Glycosyltransferase Involved in Medermycin Biosynthesis.

C-Glycosylation in the biosynthesis of bioactive natural products is quite unique, which has not been studied well. Medermycin, as an antitumor agent in the family of pyranonaphthoquinone antibiotics, is featured with unique C-glycosylation. Here, a new C-glycosyltransferase (C-GT) Med-8 was identified to be essential for the biosynthesis of medermycin, as the first example of C-GT to recognize a rare deoxyaminosugar (angolosamine). med-8 and six genes (med-14, -15, -16, -17, -18, and -20 located in the medermycin biosynthetic gene cluster) predicted for the biosynthesis of angolosamine were proved to be functional and sufficient for C-glycosylation. A C-glycosylation cassette composed of these seven genes could convert a proposed substrate into a C-glycosylated product. In conclusion, these genes involved in the C-glycosylation of medermycin were functionally identified and biosynthetically engineered, and they provided the possibility of producing new C-glycosylated compounds.

Unveiling Two Consecutive Hydroxylations: Mechanisms of Aromatic Hydroxylations Catalyzed by Flavin-Dependent Monooxygenases for the Biosynthesis of Actinorhodin and Related Antibiotics.

Flavin-dependent monooxygenases are ubiquitous in living systems and are classified into single- or two-component systems. Actinorhodin, produced by Streptomyces coelicolor, is a representative polycyclic polyketide that is hydroxylated through the action of the two-component ActVA-5/ActVB hydroxylase system. These homologous systems are widely distributed in bacteria, but their reaction mechanisms remain unclear. This in vitro investigation has provided chemical proof of two consecutive hydroxylations via hydroxynaphthalene intermediates involved in actinorhodin biosynthesis. The ActVA-5 oxygenase component catalyzed a stepwise dihydroxylation of the substrate, whereas the ActVB flavin reductase not only supplied a reduced cofactor, but also regulated the quinone-hydroquinone interconversion of an intermediate. Our study provides clues for understanding the general biosynthetic mechanisms of highly functionalized aromatic natural products with structural diversity.

Effect of Kaempferia parviflora extract on knee osteoarthritis.

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is becoming more prevalent worldwide due to increases in the numbers of elderly and obese patients. Currently, pharmaceutical medicines used for the treatment of OA are for symptomatic therapy and therefore new therapeutic agents are needed. Kaempferia parviflora (KP) is a plant growing naturally in Southeast Asia and has various pharmacological effects including an anti-inflammatory effect, but no effect on OA has yet been reported. We therefore conducted a search for the effects KP and the active components of KP extract (KPE) exert on OA as well as its mechanism of action. Results from a study of KPE using the monoiodoacetic acid rat OA model revealed that KPE reduced the pain threshold and severity of osteoarthritic cartilage lesions. The mechanism of action and active components were then investigated using IL-1ß-treated human knee-derived chondrocytes. KPE, as well as 5,7-dimethoxyflavone and 5,7,4'-trimethoxyflavone, which are key constituents of KPE and highly absorbable into the body, reduced the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which are the main extracellular matrix enzymes that degrade collagen within cartilage. As mentioned above, KPE acted to suppress OA and 5,7-dimethoxyflavone and 5,7,4'-trimethoxyflavone were shown to be involved as part of KPE's mechanism that inhibits MMPs.

Aromatic Polyketide GTRI-02 is a Previously Unidentified Product of the act Gene Cluster in Streptomyces coelicolor†A3(2).

The biosynthesis of aromatic polyketides derived from type II polyketide synthases (PKSs) is complex, and it is not uncommon that highly similar gene clusters give rise to diverse structural architectures. The act biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) of the model actinomycete Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) is an archetypal type II PKS. Here we show that the act BGC also specifies the aromatic polyketide GTRI-02 (1) and propose a mechanism for the biogenesis of its 3,4-dihydronaphthalen-1(2H)-one backbone. Polyketide 1 was also produced by Streptomyces sp. MBT76 after activation of the act-like qin gene cluster by overexpression of the pathway-specific activator. Mining of this strain also identified dehydroxy-GTRI-02 (2), which most likely originated from dehydration of 1 during the isolation process. This work shows that even extensively studied model gene clusters such as act of S. coelicolor can still produce new chemistry, offering new perspectives for drug discovery.

Discovery of C-Glycosylpyranonaphthoquinones in Streptomyces sp. MBT76 by a Combined NMR-Based Metabolomics and Bioinformatics Workflow.

Mining of microbial genomes has revealed that actinomycetes harbor far more biosynthetic potential for bioactive natural products than anticipated. Activation of (cryptic) biosynthetic gene clusters and identification of the corresponding metabolites has become a focal point for drug discovery. Here, we applied NMR-based metabolomics combined with bioinformatics to identify novel C-glycosylpyranonaphthoquinones in Streptomyces sp. MBT76 and to elucidate the biosynthetic pathway. Following activation of the cryptic qin gene cluster for a type II polyketide synthase (PKS) by constitutive expression of its pathway-specific activator, bioinformatics coupled to NMR profiling facilitated the chromatographic isolation and structural elucidation of qinimycins A-C (1-3). The intriguing structural features of the qinimycins, including 8-C-glycosylation, 5,14-epoxidation, and 13-hydroxylation, distinguished these molecules from the model pyranonaphthoquinones actinorhodin, medermycin, and granaticin. Another novelty lies in the unusual fusion of a deoxyaminosugar to the pyranonaphthoquinone backbone during biosynthesis of the antibiotics BE-54238 A and B (4, 5). Qinimycins showed weak antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria. Our work shows the utility of combining bioinformatics, targeted activation of cryptic gene clusters, and NMR-based metabolic profiling as an effective pipeline for the discovery of microbial natural products with distinctive skeletons.

Bifunctionality of ActIV as a Cyclase-Thioesterase Revealed by in Vitro Reconstitution of Actinorhodin Biosynthesis in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2).

Type II polyketide synthases iteratively generate a nascent polyketide thioester of the acyl carrier protein (ACP); this is structurally modified to produce an ACP-free intermediate towards the final metabolite. However, the timing of ACP off-loading is not well defined because of the lack of an apparent thioesterase (TE) among relevant biosynthetic enzymes. Here, ActIV, which had been assigned as a second ring cyclase (CYC) in actinorhodin (ACT) biosynthesis, was shown to possess TE activity in vitro with a model substrate, anthraquinone-2-carboxylic acid-N-acetylcysteamine. In order to investigate its function further, the ACT biosynthetic pathway in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) was reconstituted in vitro in a stepwise fashion up to (S)-DNPA, and the product of ActIV reaction was characterized as an ACP-free bicyclic intermediate. These findings indicate that ActIV is a bifunctional CYC-TE and provide clear evidence for the release timing of the intermediate from the ACP anchor.

Effective Antibiofilm Polyketides against Staphylococcus aureus from the Pyranonaphthoquinone Biosynthetic Pathways of Streptomyces Species.

Streptomyces bacteria are renowned for their ability to produce bioactive secondary metabolites. Recently, synthetic biology has enabled the production of intermediates and shunt products, which may have altered biological activities compared to the end products of the pathways. Here, we have evaluated the potential of recently isolated alnumycins and other closely related pyranonaphthoquinone (PNQ) polyketides against Staphylococcus aureus biofilms. The antimicrobial potency of the compounds against planktonic cells and biofilms was determined by redox dye-based viability staining, and the antibiofilm efficacy of the compounds was confirmed by viable counting. A novel antistaphylococcal polyketide, alnumycin D, was identified. Unexpectedly, the C-ribosylated pathway shunt product alnumycin D was more active against planktonic and biofilm cells than the pathway end product alnumycin A, where a ribose unit has been converted into a dioxane moiety. The evaluation of the antibiofilm potential of other alnumycins revealed that the presence of the ribose moiety in pyranose form is essential for high activity against preformed biofilms. Furthermore, the antibiofilm potential of other closely related PNQ polyketides was examined. Based on their previously reported activity against planktonic S. aureus cells, granaticin B, kalafungin, and medermycin were also selected for testing, and among them, granaticin B was found to be the most potent against preformed biofilms. The most active antibiofilm PNQs, alnumycin D and granaticin B, share several structural features that may be important for their antibiofilm activity. They are uncharged, glycosylated, and also contain a similar oxygenation pattern of the lateral naphthoquinone ring. These findings highlight the potential of antibiotic biosynthetic pathways as a source of effective antibiofilm compounds.

Natural product proteomining, a quantitative proteomics platform, allows rapid discovery of biosynthetic gene clusters for different classes of natural products.

Information on gene clusters for natural product biosynthesis is accumulating rapidly because of the current boom of available genome sequencing data. However, linking a natural product to a specific gene cluster remains challenging. Here, we present a widely applicable strategy for the identification of gene clusters for specific natural products, which we name natural product proteomining. The method is based on using fluctuating growth conditions that ensure differential biosynthesis of the bioactivity of interest. Subsequent combination of metabolomics and quantitative proteomics establishes correlations between abundance of natural products and concomitant changes in the protein pool, which allows identification of the relevant biosynthetic gene cluster. We used this approach to elucidate gene clusters for different natural products in Bacillus and Streptomyces, including a novel juglomycin-type antibiotic. Natural product proteomining does not require prior knowledge of the gene cluster or secondary metabolite and therefore represents a general strategy for identification of all types of gene clusters.

Suppression of adipocyte hypertrophy by polymethoxyflavonoids isolated from Kaempferia parviflora.

We previously demonstrated that ethyl acetate extracts of Kaempferia parviflora Wall. Ex Baker (KPE) improve insulin resistance in TSOD mice and showed that its components induce differentiation and adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. The present study was undertaken to examine whether KPE and its isolated twelve components suppress further lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 mature adipocytes. KPE reduced intracellular triglycerides in mature adipocytes, as did two of its components, 3,5,7,3',4'-pentamethoxyflavone and 5,7,4'-trimethoxyflavone. Shrinkage of lipid droplets in mature adipocytes was observed, and mRNA expression levels of adipose tissue triglyceride lipase (ATGL) and hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) were up-regulated by these two polymethoxyflavonoids (PMFs). Furthermore, the protein expression level of ATGL and the release level of glycerol into the cell culture medium increased. In contrast, the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) agonist, troglitazone, did not decrease intracellular triglycerides in mature adipocytes, and the mRNA expression level of PPARγ was not up-regulated in mature adipocytes treated with the two active PMFs. Therefore, suppression of lipid accumulation in mature adipocytes is unlikely to be enhanced by transcriptional activation of PPARγ. These results suggest that KPE and its active components enhance lipolysis in mature adipocytes by activation of ATGL and HSL independent of PPARγ transcription, thus preventing adipocyte hypertrophy. On the other hand, the full hydroxylated flavonoid quercetin did not show the suppressive effects of lipid accumulation in mature adipocyte in the same conditions. Consequently, methoxy groups in the flavones are important for the activity.

Distinct intraspecific variations of garlic (Allium sativum L.) revealed by the exon-intron sequences of the alliinase gene.

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) has been used worldwide as a food and for medicinal purposes since early times. Garlic cultivars exhibit considerable morphological diversity despite the fact that they are mostly sterile and are grown only by vegetative propagation of cloves. Considerable recombination occurs in garlic genomes, including the genes involved in secondary metabolites. We examined the genomic DNAs (gDNAs) from garlic, encoding alliinase, a key enzyme involved in organosulfur metabolism in Allium plants. The 1.7-kb gDNA fragments, covering three exons (2, 3, and 4) and all four introns, were amplified from total DNAs prepared from garlic samples produced in Asia and Europe, leading to 73 sequences in total: Japan (JPN), China (CHN), India (IND), Spain (ESP), and France (FRA). The exon sequences were highly conserved among all the sequences, probably reflecting the fully functional alliinase associated with the flavor quality. Distinct intraspecific variations were detected for all four intron sequences, leading to the haplotype classifications. A close relationship between JPN and CHN was observed for all four introns, whereas IND showed a more divergent distribution. ESP and FRA afforded clearly different variants compared with those from Asian sequences. The present study provides information that could be useful in the development of an additional molecular marker for garlic authentication and quality control.

Biosynthesis of pyranonaphthoquinone polyketides reveals diverse strategies for enzymatic carbon-carbon bond formation.

Pyranonaphthoquinones synthesized by Streptomyces bacteria via type II polyketide pathways are aromatic compounds build around a common three-ring structure, which is composed of pyran, quinone and benzene rings. Over the years, actinorhodin in particular has served as a model compound for studying the biosynthesis of aromatic polyketides, while some of the other metabolites such as granaticin, medermycin, frenolicin and alnumycin A have enabled comparative studies that complement our understanding how these complex biological systems function and have evolved. In addition, despite the similarity of the aglycone units, pyranonaphthoquinones in effect display remarkable diversity in tailoring reactions, which include numerous enzymatic carbon-carbon bond forming reactions. This review focuses on the current status of molecular genetic, biochemical and structural investigations on this intriguing family of natural products.

Biosynthetic conclusions from the functional dissection of oxygenases for biosynthesis of actinorhodin and related Streptomyces antibiotics.

Actinorhodin (ACT) produced by Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) belongs to the benzoisochromanequinone (BIQ) class of antibiotics. ActVA-ORF5, a flavin-dependent monooxygenase (FMO) essential for ACT biosynthesis, forms a two-component enzyme system in combination with a flavin:NADH oxidoreductase, ActVB. The genes for homologous two-component FMOs are found in the biosynthetic gene clusters for two other BIQs, granaticin (GRA) and medermycin (MED), and a closely related antibiotic, alnumycin (ALN). Our functional analysis of these FMOs (ActVA-ORF5, Gra-ORF21, Med-ORF7, and AlnT) in S. coelicolor unambiguously demonstrated that ActVA-ORF5 and Gra-ORF21 are bifunctional and capable of both p-quinone formation at C-6 in the central ring and C-8 hydroxylation in the lateral ring, whereas Med-ORF7 catalyzes only p-quinone formation. No p-quinone formation on a BIQ substrate was observed for AlnT, which is involved in lateral p-quinone formation in ALN.

Identification of the actinorhodin monomer and its related compound from a deletion mutant of the actVA-ORF4 gene of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2).

An oxygenated derivative of dihydrokalafungin (DHK) was isolated from a deletion mutant of the actVA-ORF4 gene involved in the biosynthesis of a dimeric benzoisochromanequinone (BIQ) antibiotic, actinorhodin (ACT), in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). Spectroscopic analysis elucidated its structure as 8-hydroxy-DHK, corresponding to the monomeric unit of ACT. Further metabolite analysis identified its related compound, clearly derived from the reduction of 8-hydroxy-DHK. The structures of these metabolites indicate the essential role of ActVA-ORF4 in ACT biosynthesis, specifically in dimerization of a BIQ intermediate via C-C bond formation.