Seven new alkaloids, N-methylhaemanthidine chloride (1), N-methyl-5,6-dihydroplicane (5), O-methylnerinine (6), N-ethoxycarbonylethylcrinasiadine (7), N-ethoxycarbonylpropylcrinasiadine (8), N-phenethylcrinasiadine (9) and N-isopentylcrinasiadine (10), together with eight known alkaloids, haemanthamin (2), 3-epimacronine (3), (+)-tazettine (4), N-methylcrinasiadine (11), trisphaeridine (12), 5,6-dihydrobicolorine (13), lycorine (14), and nigragillin (15), were isolated from the whole plants of Zephyranthes candida. The structures of the new compounds were established by spectroscopic data interpretation, with single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis performed on 1. The absolute configuration of 3-epimacronine (3) was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis with CuKα irradiation. Compounds 1–15 were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxicity against five human cancer cell lines and the Beas-2B immortalized (non-cancerous) human bronchial epithelial cell line. Compounds 1, 2, 9, and 14 exhibited cytotoxicity with IC50 values ranging from 0.81 to 13 μM with selectivity indices as high as 10 when compared to the Beas-2B cell line.

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Waikikiamides A–C (1–3), structurally complex diketopiperazine derivatives, and putative biogenic precursors, (+)-semivioxanthin (4), notoamide F (5), and (−)-notoamide A (6), were isolated from Aspergillus sp. FM242. 1 and 2, bearing a hendecacyclic ring system, represent a novel skeleton. 3 features the first unique heterodimer of two notoamide analogs with an N–O–C bridge. Compounds 1 and 3 exhibit antiproliferative activity with IC50 values in the range of 0.56 to 1.86 μM. The gene clusters mined from the sequenced genome support their putative biosynthetic pathways.

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Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) belongs to a subgroup of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with an increasing incidence all over the world. Tanshinone IIA (TSA), an active compound of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge., has been found to have anti-tumor effects on many tumors, but its anti-LUAD effect and its mechanism have not been reported yet. In this study, bio-information analysis was applied to characterize the potential mechanism of TSA on LUA, biological experiments were used to verify the mechanisms involved. TCGA, Pubchem, SwissTargetPrediction, Venny2.1.0, STRING, DAVID, Cytoscape 3.7.2, Omicshare, GEPIA, RSCBPDB, Chem Draw, AutoDockTools, and PyMOL were utilized for analysis in the bio-information analysis and network pharmacology. Our experiments in vitro focused on the anti-LUAD effects and mechanisms of TSA on LUAD cells (A549 and NCI-H1975 cells) via MTT, plate cloning, Annexin V-FITC and PI dual staining, flow cytometry, and western blot assays. A total of 64 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of TSA for treatment of LUAD were screened out. Gene ontology and pathway analysis revealed characteristic of the DEGs network. After GEPIA-based DEGs confirmation, 46 genes were considered having significant differences. Further, 10 key DEGs (BTK, HSD11B1, ADAM33, TNNC1, THRA, CCNA2, AURKA, MIF, PLK1, and SORD) were identified as the most likely relevant genes from overall survival analysis. Molecular Docking results showed that CCNA2, CDK2 and PLK1 had the lowest docking energy. MTT and plate cloning assays results showed that TSA inhibited the proliferation of LUAD cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Annexin V-FITC and PI dual staining and flow cytometry assays results told that TSA promoted the apoptosis of the two LUAD cells in different degrees, and induced cycle arrest in the G1/S phase. Western blot results showed that TSA significantly down-regulated the expression of CCNA2, CDK2, AURKA, PLK1, and p-ERK. In summary, TSA could suppress the progression of LUAD by inducing cell apoptosis and arresting cell cycle, and these were done by regulating CCNA2-CDK2 complex and AURKA/PLK1 pathway. These findings are the first to demonstrate the molecular mechanism of TSA in treatment of LUAD combination of network bio-information analysis and biological experiments in vitro.

Diketopiperazines are important secondary metabolites of the fungi with variety bioactivities. Several species belonging to genus Chaetomium produce compounds of this class, such as chetomin. To identify new antitumor agents, secondary metabolites of fungus Chaetomium sp 88194 were investigated and three new indole diketopiperazines, Chaetocochins G (1), Oidioperazines E (2) and Chetoseminudin E (3), along with two known compounds Chetoseminudins C (4) and N-acetyl-b-oxotryptamine (5), were obtained. Chaetocochins G and Chetoseminudin E were recrystallized in CHCl 3 containing a small amount of MeOH, and their structures with absolute configuration were established by spectroscopic data interpretation and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The absolute configuration of Oidioperazines E was defined by comparing of experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism spectra. These isolates were also evaluated the anticancer activity, and Chaetocochins G displayed more potent cytotoxicity in MCF-7 cells than the common chemotherapeutic agent (5-fluorouracil) associated with G2/M cell cycle arrest. More importantly, Chaetocochins G induced cell apoptotic death via caspase-3 induction and proteolytic cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, concomitantly with increased Bax and decreased Bcl-2 expression. Our findings suggested that indole diketopiperazines from endophytic Chaetomium sp 88194 may be potential resource for developing anti-cancer reagents. E ndophytic fungi metabolites have gained increased attention as a new resource for the discovery of new therapeutic agents 1,2 . The endophytic fungi of the genus Chaetomium produce many types of secondary metabolites, such as indole diketopiperazines which are widely found as mold secondary metabolites with bioactivities including antitumor, antimicrobial, antinematodal, and cytotoxicity effects 3 . Breast cancer is one of four oncology diseases that are most widespread in the world, it also one of leading causes of cancer-related deaths in female population 4 , causing death of about 350,000 women in both developed and developing countries every year 5 . In order to find new antitumor agents, the extracts of the fermented rice substrate of the fungus Chaetomium cochliodes 88194 that obtained from China Forestry Culture Collection Center (cfcc 88194) was investigated, leading to the isolation of three new indole diketopiperazines (1-3) and two known compounds (4-5) 6,7 .Our work thereby provides three new indole diketopiperazines (1, 2, and 3), and Chaetocochins G (1) display antiproliferative effect, at least partially, due to the induction of apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. Results and DiscussionOur present research is focused on determining the structures of indole diketopiperazines (1-5) from Chaetomium cochliodes 88194 and investigating the antiproliferative effect of isolates against the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line. The results showed that Chaetocochins G exhibited cytotoxicity with IC 50 values of 8.3 mg/ mL (48 h). Cell cycle arrest is regar...

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