Discovery of brevijanazines from Aspergillus brevijanus reveals the molecular basis for p-nitrobenzoic acid in fungi

Biological Activity of Complexes Involving Nitro-Containing Ligands and Crystallographic-Theoretical Description of 3,5-DNB Complexes

Drug resistance in infectious diseases developed by bacteria and fungi is an important issue since it is necessary to further develop novel compounds with biological activity that counteract this problem. In addition, new pharmaceutical compounds with lower secondary effects to treat cancer are needed. Coordination compounds appear to be accessible and promising alternatives aiming to overcome these problems. In this review, we summarize the recent literature on coordination compounds based on nitrobenzoic acid (NBA) as a ligand, its derivatives, and other nitro-containing ligands, which are widely employed owing to their versatility. Additionally, an analysis of crystallographic data is presented, unraveling the coordination preferences and the most effective crystallization methods to grow crystals of good quality. This underscores the significance of elucidating crystalline structures and utilizing computational calculations to deepen the comprehension of the electronic properties of coordination complexes.

A Cytochrome P450 Catalyzes Oxidative Coupling Formation of Insecticidal Dimeric Indole Piperazine Alkaloids

Cytochrome P450 (CYP450)-catalyzed oxidative coupling is an efficient strategy for using simple building blocks to construct complex structural scaffolds of natural products. Among them, heterodimeric coupling between two different monomers is relatively scarce, and the corresponding CYP450s are largely undiscovered. In this study, we discovered a fungal CYP450 (CpsD) and its associated cps cluster from 37208 CYP450s of Pfam PF00067 family member database and subsequently identified a group of new skeleton indole piperazine alkaloids (campesines A-G) by combination of genome mining and heterologous synthesis. Importantly, CYP450 CpsD mainly catalyzes intermolecular oxidative heterocoupling of two different indole piperazine monomers to generate an unexpected 6/5/6/6/6/6/5/6 eight-ring scaffold through the formation of one C-C bond and two C-N bonds, illuminating its first dimerase role in this family of natural products. The proposed catalytic mechanism of CpsD was deeply investigated by diversified substrate derivatization. Moreover, dimeric campesine G shows good insecticidal activity against the global honeybee pest Galleria mellonella. Our study shows a representative example of discovering new skeleton monomeric and dimeric indole piperazine alkaloids from microbial resources, expands our knowledge of bond formation by CYP450s and supports further development of the newly discovered and engineered campesine family compounds as potential biopesticides.

Heterologous Biosynthesis of the Sterol O-Acyltransferase Inhibitor Helvamide Unveils an α-Ketoglutarate-Dependent Cross-Linking Oxygenase

We have identified the biosynthetic gene cluster (hvm) for the sterol O-acyltransferase inhibitor helvamide (1) from the genome of Aspergillus rugulosus MST-FP2007. Heterologous expression of hvm in A. nidulans produced a previously unreported analog helvamide B (5). An α-ketoglutarate-dependent oxygenase Hvm1 was shown to catalyze intramolecular cyclization of 1 to yield 5. The biosynthetic branch to the related hancockiamides and helvamides was found to be controlled by the substrate selectivity of monomodular nonribosomal peptide synthetases.

Novel Para-Aminobenzoic Acid Analogs and Their Potential Therapeutic Applications

A "building block" is a key component that plays a substantial and critical function in the pharmaceutical research and development industry. Given its structural versatility and ability to undergo substitutions at both the amino and carboxyl groups, para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) is a commonly used building block in pharmaceuticals. Therefore, it is great for the development of a wide range of novel molecules with potential medical applications. Anticancer, anti-Alzheimer's, antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties have been observed in PABA compounds, suggesting their potential as therapeutic agents in future clinical trials. PABA-based therapeutic chemicals as molecular targets and their usage in biological processes are the primary focus of this review study. PABA's unique features make it a strong candidate for inclusion in a massive chemical database of molecules having drug-like effects. Based on the current literature, further investigation is needed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of PABA derivatives in clinical investigations and better understand the specific mechanism of action revealed by these compounds.

Fuligopyrones from the Fruiting Bodies of Myxomycete Fuligo septica Offer Short-Term Protection from Abiotic Stress Induced by UV Radiation

The myxomycete Fuligo septica, colloquially referred to as "dog vomit fungus", forms vibrant yellow fruiting bodies (aethalia) on wood chips during warm and humid conditions in spring. In 2018, ideal climatic conditions in Sydney, Australia, provided a rare opportunity to access abundant quantities of F. septica aethalia, which enabled the isolation, purification, structure elucidation, and biological screening of two avenalumamide pyrones, fuligopyrone (1) and fuligopyrone B (2). While 1 and 2 did not exhibit any appreciable biological activity, their significant UV absorption at 325 nm suggested they may be acting as transient sunscreens to help protect the fruiting mass from exposure to sunlight. In support of this hypothesis, exposing a solution of 2 to direct sunlight for 5 min resulted in rapid equilibration with a mixture of 2E,4Z-fuligopyrone B (10) and 2Z,4E-fuligopyrone B (11) photoisomers.

Discovery, bioactivity and biosynthesis of fungal piperazines

Covering: up to the end of July, 2022Fungi are prolific producers of piperazine alkaloids, which have been shown to exhibit an array of remarkable biological activities. Since the first fungal piperazine, herquline A, was reported from Penicillium herquei Fg-372 in 1979, a plethora of structurally diverse piperazines have been isolated and characterised from various fungal strains. Significant advancements have been made in recent years towards unravelling the biosynthesis of fungal piperazines and numerous synthetic routes have been proposed. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the current knowledge of the discovery, classification, bioactivity and biosynthesis of piperazine alkaloids reported from fungi, and discusses the perspectives for exploring the structural diversity of fungal piperazines via genome mining of the untapped piperazine biosynthetic pathways.

Hot off the Press

A personal selection of 32 recent papers is presented covering various aspects of current developments in bioorganic chemistry and novel natural products such as hyperispirone A from Hypericum beanii.